Nine
by cats n dots
Summary: A young boy named Topaz is thrown in the middle of an exciting adventure. Can he stop the enemy from stealing nine artifacts with Opal, a mysterious girl who seems to have quite a dark past? And what has a growlithe and a vulpix to do with everything?
1. Prologue

Nine

Prologue

A patch of tall grass was rustling below the old trees. A white and purple snout appeared and sniffed the air. Suddenly its owner – a timid-looking rattata – came out of the grass. Viridian forest was usually a quiet and peaceful area, but today something seemed to be out of place. Even the usually serene voice of the wind playing in trees and bushes seemed almost threatening. The rattata looked around cautiously but was soon distracted by a fallen pecha berry on the ground. Delighted, it moved closer and was about to grab the berry with its tiny paws –

WHOOOOM! An enormous ray of bright light was shot out of nowhere. The rattata fell in front of the berry, not moving anymore.

"Nice SolarBeam, Houndoom", said a voice behind the trees. Soon a rough-looking blonde man stepped out of the bushes quickly followed by a large dark-coloured creature. Its eyes glimmered viciously when the man rolled the purple rodent around with a tip of his shoe.

"It's fainted", he announced happily to another man who had appeared behind him. The man looked really pale, but maybe it was because of the dark clothes he was wearing. He frowned to the blond one. "It was just a rattata, Jasper." He swiped his dark spiky hair out of his face and walked past him. "And besides, we have a work to do."

Jasper and houndoom followed the man. "Yeah, I hear you, Jet. But you know that I can't stand pathetic creatures like that rattata, right?" The one called Jet didn't respond so he sighed and kept walking. He would have wanted to keep the conversation up but his companion wasn't exactly the chattiest person. Everything just seemed too quiet here. Jasper had a certain feeling in his neck that someone was watching them. He quickly glanced over his shoulder but there was nothing there. "Never mind", he muttered.

* * *

She had gotten behind that old beech tree just in time. The taller man started walking again. She sneaked after them now more cautiously. Her dark eyes were fixed on their backs, ready for another dive behind the trees. She fingered her belt and the four pokeballs attached to it. Her fist closed around one of them. "I think you'll come in handy there, Spinarak", she whispered.

The men were now standing before a steep rocky wall with vine growing all over it. The one with a spiky hair seemed to examine the wall closely while the other just paced restlessly around, his houndoom right behind him. After a while the first one stepped back and drew some vines aside. It revealed a large hole in the wall. The girl watching them tiptoed a bit closer, still hiding in the shadows cast by trees. The two men went in.

* * *

"Aww man, it's dark in here!" Jasper complained. "Houndoom, use Flash." The creature growled silently and let out a giant flash of light that illuminated the narrow cave. Jasper didn't have time to look around much because Jet was already far ahead, but he still noticed the odd markings covering the walls. There were shapes of creatures… of pokémon, possibly. He felt a shiver going down his spine and hastened his pace. "What a creepy cave…"

"See, I told so", said Jet with a hint of satisfaction in his voice when Jasper finally caught up with him. He stepped aside so the latter could see the sight behind him. The cave extended into a large hall. It seemed empty at first, but then Jasper noticed a big statue at the farthest wall. Houndoom's light barely reached it.

They walked across the hall. Now they could see that the statue portrayed a woman in a simple dress. Her long hair flowed over her shoulders and she had a serene smile on her face. Her hands were in front of her, as if she was offering something. Jasper took a closer look and noticed a small object on the carved hands. It was a large coin that had a familiar symbol on it. "It's like the gym badge", Jasper whispered. "Like the one from Viridian Gym."

Jet leaned closer but was taken aback by a loud shriek behind them: "Disable!" He turned around and managed to see someone at the entrance of the hall before darkness fell into the cave. "Wha…? Houndoom! Flash!" shouted Jasper. Nothing happened. "It's no use", said Jet silently besides him. "Okay then, use Flamethrower!" Houndoom growled loudly and let giant flares out of its mouth.

The fire attack lit the room up again, but only momentarily. The hall entrance where it was aimed was now empty. "Damn it! Flamethrower!" ordered Jasper again, but there was no response. "Must've been another Disable…" Jet started, but was cut off by a strange sensation of something moving rapidly past him in the darkness. His hand moved down to his pocket and grabbed a pokeball. "Spark, Magneton." he said quietly, releasing the pokémon. It hummed obediently and lit up the room with its electricity.

"There's nobody here, except us now", Jasper said looking around the empty room surprised. Jet ordered another spark from his magneton and saw that the object he had been after was now gone. "Come on, Jasper. Let's go." "But… what about the power?" the blonde asked. The answer came from the dark. "Well, we still have eight to go. And if I'm not wrong, we will see that thief again. Spark!"

Another wave of electricity made Jasper able to see that his companion was already halfway across the room. "Hey, wait for me!" he called and ran after him.


	2. Topaz

Chapter I: Topaz

There was a small, pleasant-looking field somewhere between Lavender Town and Saffron City. It was an early morning and the sunlight glimmered in the old white fences that surrounded the area. The field was full of vegetation; the bight-coloured flowers were almost strangled by weeds, and a small child or pokémon could easily hide in the long grass and bushes.

That's why no-one could have noticed a young, yellow-haired boy lurking behind a large, wildly-growing fern. He bit his lip nervously and gazed a spot in tall grass in front of him with his sharp, amber eyes. His other hand squeezed a pokeball and was ready to call out his pokémon any second.

It was like his gaze had pierced the grass in front of him; suddenly a wild sandshrew hopped out of it. The boy cried out enthusiastically and threw the pokeball. A venonat appeared with a flash of red light. "Go, Veno!" The boy shouted. "Use tackle!" The furry creature obeyed and threw itself to the opponent, but the latter hardly took any damage.

"Stay strong, buddy! Tackle again!" the boy ordered. This time the opponent was faster and launched spinning stars out of its mouth. Venonat yelped in pain when they hit it.

The boy looked clueless for a second but soon he braced himself. "Okay, now I know! Veno, use Stun Spore!" His pokémon let some kind of sparkling dust out of its body and as soon as it reached the opponent, it stopped in its tracks, looking dazed.

"And now, use Confusion!" "Venonat", the purple pokémon answered and did the attack. It worked and the opponent fell to the ground.

The boy grinned triumphantly and pulled another pokeball from his bag. It was not like an ordinary red and white pokeball; it looked a bit rough, as if it was hand-made. Also, the upper half of the ball was in yellow colour and imitated the pattern of sandshrew's back.

The boy lifted his arm up. "I hope this works…" He muttered, launching the ball at the pokémon. He watched it disappear inside with another glow of red. His amber eyes widened as the ball twitched on the ground. Eventually it fell still.

"Yes! We did it, Veno!" the boy cried out excited and picked the pokeball up. He held it in his hands and said in a friendly tone: "Hi, sandshrew. My name is Topaz and from now on, I'll take good care of you."

He waved the venonat closer. "And this is Veno, my first buddy. You two are going to be good friends!" The purple one nodded happily and sniffed the ball.

"I told you I could make a pokeball of my own, didn't I?" he said to it proudly. "But you know, we should take it to a pokémon center so they could heal it, right?" He stood up and started walking, the venonat right behind him.

Topaz made his way to the fence and was just about to climb over it, but suddenly he heard a loud howl behind the bushes. Venonat looked up at its owner.

"Yeah, I heard it… that sounded like somebody's in pain", the latter answered looking concerned. "I guess we have to take a look. Come on!" he said and ran into the grass once more.

"Good, Blastoise! Hit it with another Hydro Pump!" cried a woman's voice. Hearing another yelp of pain, Topaz approached carefully until he could see the source of the voices.

There was an enormous turtle-like pokémon attacking a small, orange puppy. The turtle shot a large amount of water towards its opponent, which rammed to the ground by the force of the attack. Topaz felt sorry for the pokémon. "That seemed a bit unfair…" he whispered. "It's so small and that big thing, blastoise, seems really strong."

The puppy looked exausted but it still got up. Trembling, it let a flare off its mouth, but it didn't have any effect. The opponent attacked this time with its teeth, jumping on top of the puppy and biting it. "Okay, that's enough. Return!"

When the pokémon disappeared, it revealed a mean-looking woman standing besides a large cage. A nasty smile curved her lips as she walked to the puppy. She lifted it up, stepped back to the cage and carelessly tossed it in.

Topaz stared in pure disbelief. That woman was really capturing the pokémon, but not with a ball? "I don't like this, Veno…" he said and sneaked a bit closer. The woman seemed to be some sort of a pokémon poacher, kidnapping innocent creatures.

Topaz looked at the cage but couldn't come up with any way to get near it unnoticed. The puppy wasn't moving, but he noticed that it wasn't the only pokémon there. A reddish brown fox with large, bushy tail was awake and seemingly tried to revive the puppy by stroking it with a paw.

Topaz turned his attention to the woman again. She was now speaking to a pokégear. "…like I was saying, I just captured the other one, too. So let's meet at the Vermilion Harbour when you guys are ready and – what? What do you mean you lost it?"

Her baffled expression turned into an angry grimace as she listened for a while. "A thief? Well, Jasper, if _I_ had been there, nothing like that would've happened", she hissed in a deadly tone. Topaz could hear the caller's voice rising. It sounded angry as well. The woman let out a sigh and answered wearily: "Okay, calm down. So what now? Does he still want to get the other ones?"

As the voice answered, the woman took a pokeball from her belt. "Right. See you in Vermilion, then." She put her pokégear away and released a fierce-looking bird-pokémon from the ball. "That's a fearow, Veno. Kinda scary, huh?" Topaz whispered to his pokémon and watched the woman as she hopped quickly on the fearow's back.

The pokémon spread the massive wings and left the ground. It lifted the cage easily with its sharp talons. Topaz could do nothing but watch helplessly as it rose higher and flew away. Soon it vanished behind the trees.

"I feel really bad for the puppy", the boy said sadly, still looking at the sky. "What do you think will happen to it?" The furry pokémon on his side looked concerned.

"The way she was speaking… It sounded like she and the caller were after a bunch of other pokémon too." He bit his lip thoughtfully. "And if that's the case, somebody has to stop them..."

He fell silent for a while, deep in thought. It was still early, his mother didn't expect him home in a long time, but Vermilion City was quite far away. And he had spent pretty much his whole life in peaceful little town of Lavender so he didn't know what to expect from the world outside.

But still… There were pokémon in danger and – brave and kind-hearted as he was – he felt that it was his responsibility to help them. He turned to the venonat, which was now sniffing a patch of grass.

"Are you ready for an adventure, Veno?" The pokémon turned to look at him questioningly. The boy smiled.

"Come on, we have a pokémon to rescue!"


	3. Dolls & battles

Chapter II: Dolls & battles

"Here we are, in Saffron City!"

Topaz and Veno stood at the entrance of the city. "Wow, it's amazing!" the boy said in awe as he saw all the tall buildings and the endless stream of people and pokémon on the paved streets.

The town where he lived seemed so small and rural compared to this. Lavender Town had only one landmark that rose above the simple, usually one-storey houses: the old and shabby Pokémon Tower. Instead, here all seemed to be brand new, big and shiny. The sight was almost scary.

"Maybe it's better to put you in the ball, Veno", the boy said to his pokémon. After all, he didn't want it to get lost in an unfamiliar place like this. "I'll find a pokémon center while you rest a little."

After ten minutes of wandering in enormous city Topaz was hopelessly lost. All the streets looked exactly alike and when he tried to stop someone for directions, they just explained that they were in a hurry.

"I didn't know that the people in big cities were that busy", the boy said to himself. "I guess I just have to – oh? A Poké Mart!" He ran to the blue-roofed building. "Well, if I can't find the poké center, I can always buy a potion or two…"

As he stepped in, he noticed that the shop was bigger than the one he had gotten used to in Lavender Town. The shelves were full of different sorts of medicines, pokéballs, vitamins, repels, ethers and other things. There even were things Topaz had never seen before.

Ever since he was a child, he had always found items and machines extremely interesting. He liked to collect all sorts of items for pokémon; he had to get every held item, pokéball or berry he got his hands on. In battles he had some kind of a natural instinct of using items for his advantage. Also, he could repair or upgrade any machine there was.

So to Topaz, the place was like heaven.

He almost flew from one shelve to another, grabbing as many things as possible. "Oh wow, I'd better get one of these too! And look at that! A nice-looking escape rope, I don't even have one yet…"

Finally he noticed a pink clefairy doll at the back of the shop. He had to have it. The yellow-haired boy ran towards it, some items dropping from his overly-sized load. When he reached it, he dropped carelessly the stuff he was carrying and picked the doll up.

"Hey, that's mine!"

"What?" Topaz turned around and found himself looking at a mirror. Or so it seemed at first.

The person in front of him was wearing the same clothes as him. The baggy grey pants, big yellow t-shirt, vest and even the red scarf around the neck were exactly like his. Only difference was the reddish brown hair and a pair of hazel eyes. And the fact that the person was a girl.

"I said that the doll is _mine_", she snapped looking extremely angry. "So give it to me!"

Topaz didn't answer. He couldn't do anything but to stare her strange appearance. "Hey, you! I'm talking to you, punk!" she shouted, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Bu-but… what's with the clothes…?" he asked confused. The girl looked down. "Oh, these? Never mind that now. But can I _please_ have the doll now?"

Topaz seemed to wake up from his daze. "Of course not! I found it first, and I'm gonna buy it!" he answered in identically angry tone.

They glared each other for a long time until she finally spoke. "Well, let's have a battle and the winner can have it, okay?"

"Okay. But I'm warning you, the doll is as good as mine already!"

"You wish. Come on, I know just the place for a battle!"

After a while the two were standing in a small square-like park. The girl had somehow changed her clothes because she was now standing a few yards from him, wearing a very girly blue dress. Topaz hadn't time to wonder how she had done it; he was digging some useful items from his bag. The doll that had caused this all was lying on the ground a few yards from them. They had bought it together, and whoever was the winner would get it.

"Are you ready?" the girl asked impatiently, holding already a pokéball. Topaz stopped, a potion in his hands. "In a sec, I have to give medicine to my pokémon 'cause I just caught it!"

The girl let out a smirk. A newly caught pokémon? This was going to be easy. "Okay, take as long time as you like!" she said with a wink.

Topaz released the sandshrew from its ball. It was unconscious so he sprayed some of the medicine on its face, and soon it opened its eyes. "Hi there! Remember me?" he asked smiling. The pokémon stared him looking still a bit dazed.

"Oh, I completely forgot!" he searched his bag for a while until he found a cheri berry. "Here, this will cure you from paralysis."

Sandshrew ate it and looked immediately better. "Sandshrew!" it said and licked his cheek. He laughed and patted its rough back.

"You're welcome! I think I'll call you Sando. Is that okay?"

The yellow pokémon sniffed his ear. He took it as a yes.

He stood up, stroking dirt off his pants. "We're ready now! I hope you are too", he shouted to the girl. She lifted her head and smiled determinedly. "Of course. Go, Ditto!"

She released some kind of a pink blob to the ground. Topaz eyed it warily, but shrugged and ordered his pokémon.

"Fury Swipes!"

"Ditto, use Transform!"

The ground pokémon ran towards its opponent but before it was close enough, the blob started to change. Its pink colour faded and turned yellow and white and at the same time it grew two pairs of limbs. Then a head and a short tail popped out of its body, and a familiar pattern started to appear in the pokémon´s back.

Sando had stopped in its tracks and was now staring at a perfect copy of itself.

"Wha…?" Topaz's jaw dropped. His opponent was just smirking. "That's what my Ditto does. Pretty cool, isn't it?"

Topaz tried to put himself back together but the girl was already shouting commands to her pokémon. It thudded itself into Topaz's pokémon and started to scratch it furiously with its long nails. "No! Quickly, get out of there! And use Swift!" Topaz cried.

With a great effort, Sando managed to free itself and backed away shooting a set of stars from its open mouth.

"Use swift too, Ditto!"

The two attacks collided mid-air, leaving both pokémon unharmed.

This was going to be bad. After a few minutes of intense battling Topaz noticed that the girl mimicked every move his sandshrew made.

"What should I do?" he mused. "I can't continue like this, it will only wear Sando out. Let's see now… Oh yeah, I got it!"

He reached to his bag, which was still lying on the ground. "Sando, use Swift and back off a bit!" he shouted as he started to search the bag for a certain item. Meanwhile his pokémon did as he had told, causing the opponent counter the attack with yet another Swift.

"Yes! Here it is!" the boy exclaimed enthusiastically, holding a small gray stone. "Sando, catch!"

He threw the item to the pokémon. "And now, use Rollout!"

"Ditto, you use Rollout too", called the girl's voice. The both pokémon curled to a ball and started to roll towards each other with increasing speed.

The distance between the two was so long that it took several moments before they crashed and disappeared into a big cloud of dust.

After the dust fell, they could see that Ditto was knocked out cold, now transforming back to its original form, while Sando had landed steadily on its feet.

The girl ran to her pokémon and held it up gently. "Ho-how did you do that?" she asked Topaz astonished.

Topaz walked to his own pokémon and stroked its head. "Well, you know, Rollout is a rock-type move, right? When I noticed that you just copied every attack I sent, I gave Sando this so its attack would be stronger than yours." He took the item from sandshrew's paw and held it in front of the girl.

"A hard stone? To power up rock-type moves? You gotta be kidding me…" the girl said faintly. Topaz just smiled and offered his hand to her. She took it and he lifted her up.

"My name is Topaz, by the way. What's yours?" the boy asked. The girl stroked dirt off her dress before she replied: "Copycat."

"Copycat? What kind of a name is that?"

"Well, I just love to mimic people whenever I have a chance. Sometimes I dress up like them and sometimes just imitate their voices. That's why everybody calls me Copycat."

"That certainly explains the clothes… HEY!" Topaz had looked away for a second and now the girl was wearing his clothes again. She let out a giggle. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah…" In a blink of an eye she was back in her own clothes.

Copycat spotted the clefairy doll on the ground. "I guess you won, fair and square", she said sadly. "You know, I actually have a doll like that at home. It got lost one day but a nice boy had found it and he returned it to me." They started walking towards the doll. "So when I saw that doll in the store, I just thought that I could buy it and give it to him as a thanks."

They had now reached the spot where the doll was lying. Topaz picked it up and offered to the girl.

The girl looked at him surprised. "But… you won, right?"

Topaz smiled widely. "Yeah, but I think you really should give it to that bloke."

Copycat answered to the smile. "Wow, thanks! Now I finally can go to Vermilion City Fan Club and…"

The girl continued to talk but Topaz couldn't hear a thing. Vermilion City. He felt a nasty thump in his stomach. How could he be so stupid? How could he forget that there were pokémon in great trouble while he was just after some stupid items?

"…so I'm really grateful, thank you so much! Umm… what's wrong, Topaz?"

Copycat was eyeing him curiously; he had just smacked his head and yelled: "Idiot!"

He opened his eyes and looked at the girl alarmedly. "I need to get to Vermilion City as fast as possible!"

After he had quickly explained the whole situation, Copycat remained silent for a while.

"Well, if that's the case", she finally said, smiling for some reason."I can give you a lift!"


	4. The rescue

Chapter III: The rescue

Topaz fell to the ground with a loud thump. "Urgh, never again…"

Copycat giggled as she landed a bit more delicately from the back of a two-headed brown bird pokémon. "You did a great job, Doduo. That was some fast running."

"Yeah, a bit too fast, actually", the boy grunted, his feet shaking. "So this is Vermilion City, then?" He looked around. The city was quite a sight; the sea was visible behind a few buildings and the area had a pleasant, airy atmosphere.

In front of them was a nice-looking little cottage. The peeled-off letters above the door proclaimed: "The Pokémon Fan Club".

"So, I guess that's a goodbye then…" Copycat said hesitantly.

Topaz noticed the building. "Yeah… Well, take care now… and see you around."

"No, wait a second, Topaz!" He looked at the girl surprised. "You said that you collect all kinds of stuff, so I just wanted to give you this", she said smiling and held up a small silver bell. It let out soft, soothing jingle.

"Wow, a soothe bell!" Topaz exclaimed surprised as he took the item. "These are extremely rare! Thanks!"

Copycat winked. "Just something to remember me by." She turned around and walked inside the cottage.

"Now that was something, a real soothe bell!" Topaz said out loud, still examining the bell as he reached the harbour. "I'm beginning to like this adventure."

Suddenly he bumped into someone. "_Excuse me_!" said a blunt, unpleasant female voice.

Topaz froze. A very familiar, evil-looking woman was standing in front of him, glaring viciously. "So-sorry", Topaz muttered and rushed past her.

He turned to the next cross street. His heart pounding, he leaned to the wall. The poacher lady was still here. That meant the pokémon were probably here too. Now was the time for him to set them free.

After a while he dared to take a look around the corner.

There she was, pacing restlessly back and forth on the pier that was covering the shoreline. She glanced at her pokégear and grumbled something inaudible, looking around; she was clearly waiting for someone. Topaz noticed that the cage was in a motor boat behind the woman.

"How can I get there unnoticed?" Topaz mused. "Let's see…" The area was so open that there was no way he could sneak past the woman. Therefore the only option was –

"The water", the boy muttered. He would have to get to the water without being seen, and then he could swim to the boat. "Right, let's get to work."

The boy circled the next building and decided that the woman couldn't see him from the distance. Quickly, he took off his vest and boots and put them into his bag. Then he dropped into the chilly water, holding the bag carefully above his head. He leaned on the dock and started sliding towards the boat.

Eventually he reached his destination. Judging by the sound of the footsteps, he was now directly below the woman. He peeked cautiously over the edge. Luckily she was still gazing the city and not paying attention to what was happening behind her.

Topaz threw his bag carelessly into the boat and was about to climb after it.

"Darn it, pick up the phone already!" He heard the woman cursing into her pokégear. "If you don't pick up _right now_, I'll take the boat and go there myself!"

Topaz felt a wave of panic go through him. He went silently back to the water and swam under the dock just in time – the woman got into the boat, still muttering something about her missing companion.

Suddenly Topaz remembered that his back was still in the boat. He tried to reach it but the woman started the engine. Topaz grabbed the border and barely managed to hold on when the boat began to move.

The ride seemed to last forever. Topaz was freezing and his hands were sore, but the boat just kept going. When it finally stopped, the woman stood up, and promptly jumped into the water.

Topaz waited for a while, but she didn't return. He climbed cautiously into the boat.

The two pokémon were yelping and scratching the walls of the cage. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of there", the boy said as he got closer. "Right after I figure out how to get this thing open…" He looked around, but his bag was nowhere to be seen.

"Looking for this?"

Topaz turned quickly around and let out a surprised noise; He was facing a black-haired girl who seemed to be about his age. She was holding his bag in her gloved hands. Above her head a big purple and blue bat pokémon was floating in the air, its wings moving lazily up and down. Topaz recognized it as a golbat.

"Wh-who are you?" Topaz stuttered. The girl stayed silent, but offered the bag, and he took it. "Thanks, I guess…"

"Listen, I need your help", the girl said suddenly, her dark eyes determined. "We need to go after that woman."

"After her? Where? I came here to rescue these pokémon!"

"We'll do that later. Come on!"

The girl hopped into the water. "Golbat, I need your help too" she said, turning to the pokémon.

After a couple of minutes Topaz found himself below the surface, squeezing the golbat's leg as it swam downwards. Topaz looked at the girl next to him. She was holding onto the other leg.

Topaz was pretty sure that golbat couldn't usually swim, but the pokémon in front of him was flapping its wings and sliding easily through the water as if it was air.

Suddenly something huge, blue and tentacly appeared in front of them. The bat released a powerful bolt of electricity towards the tentacruel and it vanished.

On the other hand, Topaz hadn't heard of a thunderbolting golbat, either.

After a while they reached a hole in the bottom of the sea. The golbat headed right into it and soon they found themselves on land again, in a spacious underwater tunnel.

"What is this place?" Topaz asked the girl, his clear voice echoing from the rocky walls. The girl put her hand over his mouth, quickly silencing the boy.

"We need to be cautious now", she whispered, glancing around the cave. "Or she'll hear us."

Topaz's eyes were full of questions, but he remained silent as the girl lowered her hand.

"This way", she whispered and walked deeper into the cave. Topaz and the golbat followed her.

It got darker and darker as they proceeded, but the small rocks covering the floor appeared to be glowing on multiple colours: red, blue, green, yellow… Topaz stopped to examine one closer. It let out faint red glow and had a strange marking on its side. It resembled a small flare.

"A fire stone… Hey, these all must be evolutionary stones!" Topaz whispered exited.

The girl let out an impatient sigh. "Yes, I know, but now's not the time!"

"What do you mean, you know? But…"

He gasped. The girl raised her hand to silence him, but he had heard it too. There was someone at the end of the cave.

The two kids and the pokémon sneaked closer, and soon the eerie glow of the stones was replaced with a brighter light.

They had reached an oval-shaped chamber. The light was coming from above; there seemed to be an invisible dome supporting the masses of water, and Topaz could even see tentacool and other water pokémon floating and swimming in the sea.

"Wow, what a sight", he exclaimed out loud, completely forgetting the girl's earlier warning.

"Well, you have picked a nice place for sightseeing, then", a voice rang out from ahead. Topaz dropped his eyes back to the chamber. The poacher was approaching them with an evil grin on her face. The girl next to him cursed under her breath. "There goes the change for surprise attack…"

"This place is so well-hidden that I doubt that you two got here by accident. I believe that's what you're looking for?" The woman held out her right hand and showed them a small, glimmering object.

Topaz didn't see the thing accurately, but he couldn't care less. He stepped forward.

"I don't care what that is, but there's one thing that I'm sure of! You are an evil pokémon poacher, and I'm not gonna let you get away from this!"

The woman just stared him speechlessly for a little while. Then – for his astonishment – she started to laugh.

"A poacher? Hey, I remember you! You bumped into me in the harbour! You don't really know who I am, do you, foolish boy?" she said amused.

"Of course not. Should I?" Topaz's cheeks were burning, but his tone was defiant.

"Well, _I_ know all about you", the girl at Topaz's side spat. "You're nothing but a pitiful thief, aren't you, Jade? Both you and the two people you're working with."

"Oh, who is this? The foolish boy has a girlfriend?" the woman, Jade, sneered. "_What do you know about us?_"

"Enough." The girl's face was full with disgust.

Without warning the woman threw a pokéball into the air. "Go, Blastoise!"

The girl's golbat moved forward, and Topaz took a pokéball out of his pocket. "No", the girl said strictly. The boy opened his mouth to say something, but she shook her head. "I can handle this. Golbat, use Thunderbolt!"

"Dodge it by using Rapid Spin, Blastoise!"

The giant tortoise withdrew inside its shell and started to rotate swiftly. The electric attack just bounced back from it, hitting the floor. However, the pokémon didn't stop; it moved towards the golbat, still spinning.

"Watch out!" Topaz yelled, but the bat evaded the attack by flying higher.

The blastoise was now on its feet again, aiming the cannons to the bat's direction.

"Golbat, use Haze! And you know what to do next!"

The pokémon nodded obediently. A large cloud of thick, black smoke came out of its mouth and covered the whole chamber. It was impossible to see anything.

"Hey, what was that?" Jade asked coughing from the darkness. She had felt something swiping her hand. "Rapid Spin again, Blastoise!"

The pokémon spun so rapidly that the smoke faded and the chamber was visible again. Strangely, the golbat was now sitting on its owner's head.

At the same time Jade noticed that her right hand was empty.

"'I believe that's what you're looking for?'" the girl repeated her earlier words. Even at the distance Jade recognized the small, coin-like object the girl was now holding.

"NO!" Jade turned to her blastoise. "Hydro Pump, now!"

The attack was aimed directly towards the girl, but suddenly the golbat spread its wings and lifted the girl up.

"Again! Don't let her get away!" Jade screamed furiously. The blastoise shot another jet of water in the girl's direction. It missed, and hit the dome.

The attack went right through it.

Everything seemed to stop for a second. Then the enormous water masses began to fall down.

Jade and the blastoise stood still, staring the sight mesmerized. Topaz watched in horror as the bat, still carrying the girl, dived downwards, trying to escape the huge wave. "In here!" he shouted as he backed into the tunnel.

The golbat obeyed, and as it reached him, the girl offered her hand and grabbed the boy. But to his surprise, the bat turned quickly around and flew back to the chamber.

"Golbat, use Air Slash to the water!"

The bat started to flap its wings rapidly, making a large, glowing ball. With a powerful swing, it tossed it to the nearing water. The attack created a hole, and the golbat flew into it.

Topaz stared the surrounding water masses as they moved towards the surface. They had really managed to escape from the chamber. He couldn't even think what had happened to the woman.

Soon they surfaced, and found themselves near the boat again. It was getting dark already.

The golbat landed in the boat, and the girl hurried to the steering equipment. "We need to get out of here. Her companions might be here soon."

Topaz was already picking the cage's lock. "Well, then we must get you guys out, too." The cage swung open and the two pokémon hopped gladly out.

"The motor isn't working", the girl called out.

Topaz stood up. "Let me take a look. I might be able to fix it." He walked to the girl and took a look at the motor. "Yup, just as I thought." He fiddled with it a bit, and soon the motor started with a loud roar.

The girl was staring him amazed. "How did you do that?"

"Well, I'm just good with the machines, that's all." The boy tried not to look too self-confident. "Alright, where do you want to go?"

"Actually, I want to go _there_." She pointed something behind Topaz's back. He turned around.

A giant ship was sailing into the horizon. The setting sun's rays coloured it red and orange, and the letters on its side were barely readable from the distance.

"S.S. Aqua?" Topaz asked, but there wan no response.

The girl was already navigating the boat towards the ship.


	5. SS Aqua

Chapter IV: S.S. Aqua

Topaz felt the sharp claws on his back as the golbat started to lift him up. The puppy moved a little in his arms as his feet left the boat's floor. "Don't worry, you're perfectly safe with me", he said reassuringly to the pokémon.

The golbat carried him to the deck of the giant ship. When it flew back to its owner, who was waiting on the boat floating near the ship, Topaz had time to look around.

The sun had set almost entirely; the last sunbeams still illuminated the long deck. There was nobody there besides him; maybe all the passengers were inside in some fancy party, or doing something else the rich people ought to do on board the luxury cruisers like this. He sighed. "Well, Topaz, what have you gotten into?" he asked himself.

"So, your name is Topaz?"

The girl could certainly be quiet when she wanted to. The boy turned to face her and nodded. The golbat was now sitting on her shoulder.

"Okay, what now?" he asked.

The girl put the fox-like pokémon she was carrying down. "Those bandits will come after us. I think it would be better to split up."

She held out a shining coin. There was a strange marking in it; an eight-pointed star with a circle in the center. It was distantly familiar.

"This is the thing they were after. I want you to take it." The girl's dark eyes gazed seriously into his amber ones.

"What? But… why me?"

"It'll be safer with you."

He took the coin. "What about these pokémon?" he asked, glancing the two creatures at their feet. "I think we should each take one." The puppy was now rubbing its furry head to his boot.

"I don't know…" The girl looked puzzled. "I don't really like fire pokémon."

Topaz hadn't even known that they were fire pokémon, but he hid his embarrassment and just smiled and said: "Oh come on, it's not that bad! I mean, look at it."

The girl dropped her eyes down at the fox. It gazed straight back with its deep brown eyes and tilted its head. She let out a sigh. "Okay, I'll take it." The pokémon hopped immediately into her arms, but she held it a bit awkwardly, restraining it from licking her face.

"When the ship gets to the port, wait for me at the café. It's not hard to find."

She turned to leave. The golbat's claws sunk into her white waistcoat, ready to lift her up.

She looked over her shoulder. "Oh, I almost forgot. You said that you are good with machines." She took another thing from her bag. It was blackened and dented, but Topaz recognized it immediately.

"A pokédex!"

"It's broken. Could you try to repair it?"

"You bet!" Topaz couldn't wait to see how the device worked, so he took it gladly from the girl.

"Okay then, Golbat, let's get going."

"Hey, wait!" Topaz shouted. "There's so many things you haven't told me! What was that all about? What was that place? Who was that Jade?"

There was no response.

"What's your name?" the boy tried desperately.

The girl didn't look back. She rose up in the air with her pokémon.

"It's Opal."

Then she was gone. Topaz watched in silence the spot where she had vanished, the puppy on his side.

"I think you'll come with me now", he said to the pokémon after a while. "I bet you didn't like that poacher lady much, huh?"

"Arrr…" it let out a small, angry rumble from its throat. The boy chuckled. "Yeah, I didn't like her, either."

He took an empty pokéball out from his bag. "If you're in my team now, you'll need a nickname, right? I don't know your species or anything, but how about… Aro?"

The pokémon whipped its tail. He patted its soft fur. "Yup, I think that suits you just fine."

* * *

In the Vermilion Harbour two men stood on the dock. It had gotten really dark already, and the weather was quite cold, but the men didn't talk or move. They just watched a strange figure growing bigger and bigger as it approached the shore.

Soon it became clear that the figure was a pokémon, a giant turtle, actually. It swam quickly towards the two, with a woman on its back.

The taller of the men, a blonde, stepped impatiently forward. "It's about time! It's freezing cold out here, and we've been vaiting for hours", he called out, gazing into the darkness. "Hey, where're the two pokémon?"

The woman didn't listen. She had now reached the dock and turned directly to the other man, the one with spiky dark hair.

"We have a problem", Jade said.

* * *

Topaz was walking down the deck, heading to the back of the ship. His neck ached, but, he thought, it's just a part of the deal when you have to sleep in an empty life boat.

It was already mid-day, and the weather was so sunny and warm that Topaz had taken his vest off. He was still wearing his red scarf around his neck, however. There was no way he'd take _that_ off.

The blackened device in his pocket was now working; he had spent long hours replacing some damaged parts and rerouting the couplings in the morning, but finally the pokédex had been fixed.

"_Growlithe, the Puppy Pokémon_", the machine had announced with a metallic voice, when the boy had directed it towards Aro. "_While loyal to its master, the growlithe will drive away enemies by barking and biting._"

Much to Topaz's surprise, not all the passengers of S.S. Anne were that rich-looking. Sure, there were old, respectable ladies and clean-cut bisnesmen, but there were also ordinary bug catchers, pokéfans and picnickers, and Topaz also had even seen a bunch of school kids with their teacher.

But right now the boy's thoughts were elsewhere.

Only yesterday morning, he had been a regular boy, trying to catch a new pokémon near his home village. After that, he had been thrown in a strange world filled with evil people, pokémon poaching, secret underwater chambers and mysterious coins.

Topaz's fist closed around the round object in his pocket. The mark on the coin was bothering him. He knew that he had seen it somewhere, but couldn't quite place it. The coin was the thing the bad guys _and_ that girl were after, so it had to be important in some way.

The girl, Opal… She had known things about that Jade. And she hadn't been surprised at all when Topaz had noticed the rare evolutionary stones. But where she had gotten all that information? And also, that golbat of hers. After seeing quite a bit of those bat-like creatures back in the Rock Tunnel near Lavender, he could say it knew attacks that it certainly shouldn't be able to know.

There were so many things he didn't understand. Topaz bit his lip. And also, he hadn't any idea where the ship was heading.

He had now reached the ship's back. There was a lonely fisherman leaning to the railing, holding a rod in his hands.

"Stupid, useless thing", he groused to no-one in particular. "How can I catch anything with _this_?"

Topaz walked closer. "Excuse me, mister?" The fisherman raised his head when he heard his voice. "I, uh, heard what you were saying. What's the problem?"

The man corrected his cap a little. "Well, I am the Fishing Guru from Vermilion City. I'm one of the Fishing Brothers. Have you ever heard about us?"

Topaz frowned. "Umm, I think there's a fisher by that name at the Silence Bridge area. It's close to my hometown", he said.

"Oh, that's my younger brother. And speaking of him, I'm currently travelling around Kanto and Johto to visit all my relatives. But that's not all. I also want to capture the world's biggest magikarp. You see, that's my life-long dream."

His face darkened as he continued. "But I only have got is this pitiful old rod, so all the magikarp I manage to catch are really small."

Topaz bit his lip and looked at the rod. "Well, obviously that lure doesn't seem to be that attractive… Hey, wait a minute!" He opened his bag and started to pull out some feathers, beads and various other things.

The fisherman just stood there with a baffled look on his face as the boy began to decorate the lure.

"This goes there, and that's just what it needs! Oh, a few feathers more, and… Ta-dah!" the boy exclaimed and waved the newly-upgraded lure in front of the man's face.

"That's… that's amazing!" the latter cried out. "Let's try it right now!" He tossed the lure into the water. A moment, and –

The float sunk into the dark water. "Yes! It bites!" the fisher shouted enthusiastically, starting to reel the line in furiously. "It's a big one! I can feel it!"

Suddenly an enormous red fish hopped out of the water. The man plucked the rod rapidly upwards, and the creature landed on the deck.

Topaz took the pokédex quickly from his pocket. "_Magikarp, the Fish Pokémon. This weak and pathetic Pokémon gets easily pushed along rivers when there are strong currents_."

"Wow, it's gigantic!" said Topaz, looking at the device's screen. "The pokédex says it weights nearly three times as much as an average magikarp!"

The fisherman let out a joyous scream and tossed a blue and yellow pokéball towards the creature.

"Bu-but… Shouldn't you weaken it first?" Topaz asked uncertainly. The ball was now twitching on the floor.

"Nah, that's a fast ball. It's used to catch the pokémon at the beginning of the battle."

The ball stopped moving and let out a tiny "click".

The fisher picked it up and smiled to the boy. "That's the only way for me to catch anything, because, you know, the only pokémon I have are all magikarp. And as your pokédex notified, they aren't very good at battle."

He put the ball into his pocket. "So, you are a Dex Holder?"

"A Dex Holder?" Topaz stared him quizzically.

"Oh, I just assumed that because you have a pokédex. The Dex Holders are a group of powerful trainers who the famous professor Oak himself has granted the pokédexes."

"Umm, well, this isn't really mine… The thing is that yesterday morning, I was catching a sandshrew, and –"

Topaz told his story to the fisherman, who listened eagerly.

"And then she just left, without explaining more?" the man asked, his eyes wide open. "Now that's some story you've got there, my boy."

"Yup, and I don't even know where this ship is heading", the boy gazed his hands helplessly. "And my mother's gonna kill me when I'll get home!"

The man patted his back a little. "Well, if you really want to know, this ship is heading to Olivine City in Johto."

Topaz gulped. "Okay, a correction: she's gonna kill me _if_ I'll ever get home!"


	6. Opal

Chapter V: Opal

A girl and a fox-like pokémon were walking down the road towards a city. The girl had a raven-black hair and dark eyes. She was wearing a white waistcoat over her black t-shirt, grey jeans and a pair of white boots, although the boots were starting to get brown with dirt because the road was quite muddy.

"I don't know what to do with you, vulpix", the girl said suddenly to the pokémon.

It tilted its head. "Vul?"

"I don't need a new pokémon. Look."

The girl threw four pokéballs into the air. "Go, Golbat, Spinarak, Umbreon, Snubbull!"

The vulpix flinched before the pokémon that materialized with a red flash. They indeed were fierce-looking; an enormous bat, a spider with scary face-like markings in its back, a pitch black creature with deep red eyes... even the small bulldog had strong-looking jaws.

"These are my pokémon, and I can beat all my opponents with them. What could you add to my team?"

The vulpix hung its head. The girl recalled her pokémon.

"You see, I'm going to places that are dangerous to a pokémon like you…"

The girl's voice faded away. She had felt a raindrop on the tip of her nose.

"Oh, this is just great. It's starting to rain."

She started walking again, deep in thought. The vulpix ran after her.

It had rained that night, she thought. An image appeared in her mind; a little girl standing outside, raindrops falling on her raven hair, and the house, her home…

No, she shook her head, she shouldn't think of it. There were things to do.

She was on a mission now. She had to stop those bad guys from taking the powers from their sanctuaries. There were nine of them, she recalled, and they all had a special power.

But now there were only seven to go; she had obtained the first one at the Viridian Forest. Those woods had been an object of numerous rumours over the years. It had been said that the forest had a mysterious ability to cure the injured and the sick, and that from time to time, a child was born there with a gift to heal and understand pokémon.

With that boy, Topaz, she had managed to take the second one from the hands of Jade. It had been at the bottom of the sea, near Vermilion. The place had its own legend too. There was something in the sea that made the pokémon to evolve easily. There had even been lots of evolutionary stones in the underwater cave. The boy had been amazed, but she had been expecting something like that.

The girl wasn't even sure why she had asked his help. Usually she preferred doing things alone. And besides, he hadn't even been that much of a help. But it was safer to give the power to him, because the bandits would more likely come after her.

She and the pokémon had now entered the city. "Violet City, the city of nostalgic scents", she read from a nearby sign and gave a sad smile. It was still raining. "That's just too true."

She and the vulpix walked down the main street of the city. They passed the pokémon academy and the gym. An old-looking tower was visible over the rooftops of the low buildings.

"That's the Sprout Tower, the home of many wild bellsprout. Lots of people capture their first pokémon there", the girl said to the vulpix.

Capturing, she thought. Yes, this was the place. Through the ages, Violet city had been home of many skilled pokémon capturers. It was almost too obvious that the next power was here.

The only question was _where_.

She stopped as the street came to its end, and looked around. The power could be somewhere inside the Sprout Tower, but not necessarily. She thought of a scruffy notebook in her bag, but she knew that reading it was pointless; there wasn't any information of the exact location of the sanctuary.

With no other clue, she started to make her way to the tower. Soon she stood before the giant, wooden pagoda. The door opened with a creak when she pulled it.

As soon as she got in, she abandoned the idea. Everywhere she looked were trainers, young and old, battling each other or wild bellsprout around the giant, wobbling wooden column. The girl frowned. The tower was so popular and so rummaged-through that she doubted there were any secrets left.

Nevertheless, she took the stairs to the upper floor. A bellsprout appeared in front of her. "Just go away", she said tiredly. "I'm not here to catch or battle pokémon."

The bellsprout didn't move. It just stood there, swaying oddly. Suddenly the vulpix stepped forward and glared it angrily. "Wait, vulpix –", the girl began, but the pokémon opened its mouth and let out a flare.

"No!" the girl exclaimed so loud that a couple of trainers turned towards them. "Are you crazy? You could set the whole building on fire!"

The vulpix set its ears back. The girl sighed. "Sorry, I just… Forget it."

The bellsprout had escaped, so she and the pokémon continued walking until they reached the top floor.

"I haven't got a clue what to do next", the girl said to the vulpix, watching out of a large window. The clouds hid the sun and coloured everything with a dull, grey colour. A pidgey flew over the rooftops of the city.

The girl sighed and took the notebook from her bag. It was old and scruffy-looking, and the red colour of its covers had faded a bit. She opened it and searched for a while, until she came across the right headline.

_The Capturer_

_The__ trainer with the Ultimate Power of Capturing, almost certainly from Violet City, Johto._

_Possibly c__onnected to flying-type (resemblance to the Zephyr Badge)_

Under the text was a small drawing of the wing-shaped badge. That was all there was on that page, while the most of the book was full of tiny, neat handwriting and detailed drawings.

The girl read the lines over and over again. She had been right, there was no clues in the notebook. But was that because _they_ couldn't come up with any good locations for the sanctuary, or was it just because they had been busy studying the other ones? She stared the two words on the page. _Almost certainly_… That meant that they weren't even sure the power was in the Violet.

The girl shook her head and watched as the same pidgey – or was it another one? – flew into the forest on the edge of the city. She let her gaze wander, and soon saw a large, open area in the middle of the woods.

Her curiosity rose, as she saw huge stone pillars pointing towards the cloudy sky. Some of them seemed to have fallen; there were huge rocks all around.

"Excuse me, what are those ruins over there?" the girl asked a monk who was walking past her.

"Those? Well, young one, those are the ruins of the Eleven Pillars", the monk wheezed. "No-one knows the reason of their existence, but they can't be researched properly. Nowadays the area is dangerous because the pillars are very old and can collapse any minute. But we monks of the Sprout Tower have always said that… Oh? Where are you running to?"

But the girl was already halfway down the stairs. The monk continued his slow pace around the swaying column. "The youth… Always in a rush."

The girl and the vulpix ran all the way to the ruins. Soon they stood before them, panting.

"Huff… Well, this could really be the place, don't you think?" the girl gasped.

The pillars looked even more impressive from down here, as they seemed to rise endlessly into the skies. The girl walked around them, stepping over the fallen rocks. There were seven pillars left; the other four had collapsed over the ages.

She searched the ground and the feet of the pillars carefully, but there didn't seem to be any secret chambers or even odd markings there.

And then, it struck her. The neat handwriting flashed in front of her eyes.

_Possibly c__onnected to flying-type._

She blinked. "Flying, of course!" The power must be somewhere up high, and the Eleven Pillars was the highest place around…

"Golbat!" the girl released the winged pokémon. "I need your help again!"

Soon the girl was flying, with the golbat on her back, and the vulpix in her arms.

"Fly up there so we can see the points of the pillars."

The golbat did as it was told, but as soon as it was halfway there, a big steely bird swiped past them.

"Huh? What's that skarmory doing?"

The bird let out a loud shriek and turned around. This time, it crashed straight at them.

"Steady, Golbat!" the girl yelled. "Use Thunderbolt!"

The electric attack hit its mark. The skarmory fell a few yards, but managed to stay in the air.

The golbat rose higher, trying to get away from the opponent, but it attacked again. "Dodge it, Golbat!" The girl shouted, and her pokémon made a tight curve.

She had a little time to look around. One pillar seemed to be higher than the others. Also, she noticed that it was exactly in the middle of the area.

"Could it be…?" she mused. "Golbat, take us up there!"

The bat rose higher, but was cut off by the skarmory. It shot a stream of stars towards them.

"Air Slash, quick!"

But it was too late. The stars hit the bat, who struggled to stay in course.

"Stay strong! It's not far", The girl said, gritting her teeth. "You can do it!"

Another Swift caused the golbat wince in pain. She felt its claws loosen a bit from her back.

"Almost there…"

From the corner of her eye she saw the bird approaching, but there was nothing she could do. The golbat was too tired to do any attacks; it barely managed to stay in the air. She closed her eyes and prayed that they would reach the pillar. She prepared herself to the collision.

The vulpix in her hands was moving. "Stay still, or you're gonna fall", she muttered to it, opening her eyes.

The pokémon was now facing the nearing opponent. Before the girl could even blink, it shot bright red and yellow flares towards it. The skarmory changed its direction with a loud shriek when it felt the heat of the attack.

The bat reached the pillar, and at the very moment the girl felt its claws detaching. She fell on the top of the pillar, and the golbat landed with a crash. The vulpix hopped up and started licking her face.

"Ugh, stop that!" she snarled, standing up. "And I didn't order you to fry that skarmory!"

The pokémon turned away disappointed.

The girl stepped to the unconscious golbat and returned it to its pokéball. Then she looked around her.

The top of the pillar was flat and square, and it seemed empty.

"Great, just great…" the girl muttered. She had come up here, dangering her pokémon, just to find nothing. And now her only flying pokémon was knocked out cold, so she couldn't get down.

"Vul?"

The vulpix was sniffing and scratching a spot on the ground. The girl leaned closer.

"What is it? Is there something?"

Then she noticed something in the rocky surface. There was a barely visible carving. It looked like an angular letter C, but the girl knew better.

It was a pair of wings, like in the Violet Gym's badge.

Excited, the girl put her fingers around the rock and pulled. A small hole appeared into the rocky ground. She put her hand into it and took out an object. It was a coin with an identical pair of wings carved into it.

"We did it! The Power of Capturing –"

But the girl's words were cut off by a loud, savage shriek. She looked up.

The skarmory was back.

The girl had no options. As much as she disliked the idea, the best way to defeat the opponent was to use vulpix's fire attacks. And besides, she had an idea.

"Are you ready, vulpix?" she asked the pokémon. It looked up determinedly.

With her hand squeezing the coin, she turned to face the big, steely bird.


	7. A new world

Chapter VI: A new world

Topaz was sitting in Olivine Café, drinking his third can of lemonade.

"She's still not here", he muttered glancing at the door.

The café was full of people, mainly tourists, who had come to see the city's famous lighthouse or the Battle Tower in the west, but were now tired and thirsty for all the sightseeing and battling under the warm afternoon sun.

The Fishing Guru had left after escorting Topaz to the café, and now the boy was feeling a bit lonely.

So this was Johto. Everything seemed so unfamiliar and odd here. The people were bigger and noisier, and they even talked differently. Topaz sighed. He surely was far from home.

"Excuse me, young man."

Topaz looked up surprised. There was an old, bearded man standing in front of him, wearing a weathered coat. He looked like an old sea captain with a pipe sticking out of his mouth, letting out a puff of smoke and a faint smell of tobacco.

"Could I rest my old bones a little, and sit in your table? There are no other seats left."

Topaz looked around. "Oh, yeah. Sure."

The sailor sat down with a sigh. "Thanks a lot, my boy. I've been on my feet all day, and it certainly has taken its toll." Another puff of grey smoke rose towards the ceiling. "You must be a trainer, son?"

"Umm, yes, I am."

The sailor let out a delighted laugh. "Wahahaha! I knew it! Then you must be travelling a lot. "

Topaz opened his mouth to answer but the sailor kept on talking. "Well, I think you might be interested in this." He took two sticks connected with a wire out of his pocket and held them in his both hands. "This is an itemfinder. You hold it like this, and if there's a hidden item nearby, it gives a beep. "

Topaz's jaw dropped. "Really? That's awesome!"

The man nodded. "Isn't it? You see, I'm actually considering selling it for a good price. How about it, then?"

"Well..." Topaz imagined himself standing in front of a huge pile of priceless treasures. "Okay, how much is it?" he asked excited.

But then his face darkened. "Oh, I forgot. I don't have any money left."

The sailor thought a little while, blowing the smoke from the corner of his mouth. "Well, son, do you have anything to trade for it?"

Topaz dug his bag. "Wait a sec, I do have this hidden machine that I found near my home. It contains the move Strength." He took it in his hand. "I've already taught the move to my pokémon, but…"

He bit his lip. Although he didn't need it anymore, it was hard for him to give anything away.

Then the image of the pile of treasures returned to his mind. He'd get so many other items with the device the man was offering. "Okay, is this enough to trade?"

The sailor examined the machine. "Young man, I think we've got a deal." He held out the itemfinder and the boy took it. "I suggest that you go to the beach. The waves often carry some valuable things to the shore."

Topaz stood up smiling. "Thank you, mister!" he said and rushed off.

The sailor watched as the boy left the café. Then he, too, stood up.

He noticed another boy sitting on the other side of the room. Chuckling, he put the hidden machine away and took out another itemfinder. Leisurely, he made his way to the trainer.

"Excuse me, young man. May I sit down for a while?"

* * *

"Damn it, it's not working!"

Topaz was sitting in the sand, holding the itemfinder in his hands. It didn't give a sound, even if Topaz held it in front of a repel that he had noticed himself lying on the ground nearby.

"Well, I guess that old man tricked me…" he sighed.

The machine in his hands surely looked okay at first, but a closer look revealed that the wire was almost cut off, and when Topaz opened the battery case, he noticed that it was very rusty.

"Let's see, could I be able to fix this…?" the boy mused, and started working.

After a very sweaty hour, he stood up, holding the device.

"Okay, let's give it a shot."

He directed the machine towards the same repel, still lying in the sand. The itemfinder stayed silent.

"Humph", Topaz grunted, and picked the repel up. He started walking down the shore.

"Why can't you just work?" He begged and squeezed the handles. Suddenly the device started beeping loudly.

"Wha-?"

The handles were now shaking, and as Topaz tried to keep them steady, the device directed itself towards a rocky cape were the lighthouse was.

"Maybe there's something there..."

The itemfinder shook more and more violently as the boy walked closer the lighthouse. Soon it was more like the device was pulling him.

"Waaahh! This is crazy!" Topaz yelled and stumbled forward. All of a sudden the itemfinder pointed itself straight to the ground, and the boy fell over.

"What a ride…" he mumbled and stood up. There wasn't anything in the rocky ground, but the itemfinder was still pointing right downwards.

"Okay, I guess it's still not working. Stupid piece of –" He dropped the device and kicked it, but it was pulled back to the same spot.

"Huh?" The boy moved the itemfinder with his boot, but it immediately slid back. "Just like a magnet. Weird…"

Topaz examined the ground now more carefully, but there was nothing more than sand and small rocks.

"Hey, maybe there's something underground!"

The ground was however so hard that it was impossible to dig through. The boy picked the itemfinder up and – with great effort – moved closer to the edge.

There was just some rocks pointing up from the dark water underneath him. Slowly, he started climbing down the cliff.

Like he had thought, the itemfinder now pointed much lower, so the item must be somewhere deeper inside the rock.

Suddenly the overhang he was holding onto detached from the rock.

To the boy's surprise, he didn't fall into the water. Soon he found himself lying on a rocky platform surrounded by sharp rocks.

And in front of him, there was a small hole on the side of the cliff. The itemfinder was pointing straight towards it.

Topaz stood up and looked around. The hole seemed to be hidden from anyone who was watching from the cape, the beach or the sea. He stepped in.

It took a while before his eyes adjusted to the darkness. The cave seemed to be quite small, but it was stuffed with all kinds of things; there were vases, small statues, wooden chests filled with rolls of parchment and even a miniature of an old-fashioned sailing ship. There were also some pieces of furniture, like a simple-looking bed and a moldy writing desk with candles and more parchment on it. The place looked like a hideout of some kind.

Topaz stepped to the desk. He picked one roll up and opened it carefully. It was a detailed map of the Kanto-Johto area; Topaz recognized the names of some cities written with winding letters.

But some cities seemed to be missing. For example, there wasn't Cerulean City in the north of Saffron, or Pewter City in the west. Also the watery areas of the map were full of lines of different colours. "_Trading routes_", the boy read from the corner of the map. "Wow, this must be ancient…"

He grabbed another roll. It was full of the same winding handwriting.

"_November 17__th_", he read in the fading light of the setting sun, "_The shipment arrived from Cinnabar, and a dear friend of mine sent his regards along with the bird-type pokémon I have despaired for a long time. And indeed, as exchanging is my pride and joy, I shall send a pokémon of his preference with the next ship that leaves tomorrow forenoon…_"

Topaz stopped reading and put the parchment down. He was turning away, but a glimpse of something caught his eye.

The boy froze. There was a large, golden coin on the desk.

Slowly, he put his hand to his pocket and took out a similar one. However, the marking in the one on the desk was different. It resembled a plain octagon.

He could still hear the itemfinder beeping outside of the cave. Could it be that the coin was the item it had detected from such a long distance?

* * *

Opal was leaning on the wall outside the Olivine Café.

Frustrated, she crossed her arms and glanced at the both ends of the street.

It was almost dark already, and the girl knew the ship had arrived in the morning. She had told the boy precisely to wait at the café but when she had entered about an hour ago, there were only a couple of tourists enjoying a late snack.

Typical, this is what you get when you trust a stranger.

"Hey, Opal! Opal!"

She raised her head and saw the boy jogging towards her with a goofy grin on his face.

Opal straightened and frowned. "Where were you?"

Topaz panted a little before he answered.

"Oh, just a little treasure hunting, that's all." He held out the two coins.

Opal gaped. "How-?" But soon she recovered and took the coins. "What about the pokédex?" she asked calmly.

Topaz looked at her astonished. "Wait, don't you want to know how I found that another coin?"

"Not really. Can I have the pokédex now?"

Topaz shrugged a little and gave the device to her.

"It was in pretty bad shape, but I fixed it", he babbled happily. "And you know, when I saw how great it was, I decided to make another one for myself!"

The boy took out a bright orange one. "Isn't that cool?"

But Opal didn't respond. She took a piece of paper out of her pocket.

"This is a ticket to the S.S. Anne. You can go home now", she said and turned away.

For a while Topaz stared her back that was drawing away. Then he made up his mind.

"Hey, wait!" He yelled. "I wanna come with you! I wanna stop the bad guys, and get back to that Jade woman! I owe that to the growlithe and other pokémon!"

The girl stopped. Slowly, she turned around. Her dark eyes narrowed a little.

"Do you have any pokémon that knows how to fly?"

Topaz shook his head, blushing a bit.

"You can have this."

The girl threw him a pokéball. He pushed the button and watched as the girl's golbat materialized in front of him.

"But-"

"I don't need it anymore."

Opal released another pokémon. The fierce-looking bird was even bigger than the bat and seemed to be covered with metal.

The girl mounted the creature.

"Okay, Skarmory. Let's go!"


	8. Happiness

Chapter VII: Happiness

Topaz looked at the black-haired girl who sat on the grass a little distance away. Opal was reading some old notebook, and a small discontent grunt escaped from her lips every now and then. The boy knew the reason for her bad mood, even if she hadn't said anything.

The two had arrived outside Goldenrod, the largest city in both Johto and Kanto area. From his untalkative companion Topaz had learned that it was the location of another sanctuary, as the girl called the places where the powers were kept.

That was pretty much all she had said, but apparently the girl had thought that it would be hidden somewhere around the daycare center – a small cottage with a pleasant-looking garden full of happy pokémon.

However, no matter how long they had searched, they just couldn't find anything. Topaz had used his itemfinder, but – to his pleasure and Opal's wordless disappointment – he had found a golden nugget instead. He had stored it carefully to his bag, wanting to keep the valuable item as safe as possible.

The small meadow where they had decided to have their lunch break was not far from the route. They could hear voices of trainers and other people, but the two could eat in peace because none of them departed from the road.

Topaz stretched a little and then lazily petted Sando, who was sleeping besides his knee. Veno, Aro and Vulpix were playing and chasing each other nearby and Opal's other pokémon had gathered around their owner, but Golbat sat on a branch of a knotty tree. From there it glared Topaz angrily and suspiciously.

The boy was slightly worried because Opal had hinted that they would be flying a lot. But how would he cope with a pokémon who wasn't happy with him? He had good relations with all of his pokémon, he trusted them and they obeyed and respected him. Golbat, however, was different. It carried him whenever they needed to fly but it didn't listen to his commands, it just followed Opal and Skarmory. And it glared Topaz every time Topaz tried to talk to it.

"Hey Opal, are you sure it's okay that I keep the golbat for now?"

The girl raised her dark eyes. "Of course it's okay", she said and turned back to the notebook.

Topaz bit his lip and kept trying. "But it just seems so _angry_… and it doesn't like me_._"

Opal obviously didn't like the interruption. Her eyes narrowed. "I don't see why that should be a problem", she answered. "As long as it agrees to carry you, everything's fine."

Topaz opened his mouth to argue but the girl closed the notebook with a loud snap and stood up.

"I think we should get going. The sanctuary might be somewhere in the city."

Topaz's expression changed to pure enthusiasm. "Wow, did you find something in that notebook?"

But the girl just returned her pokémon to their balls, and Topaz sighed and did the same. But when he grabbed the last ball, which was Golbat's, he changed his mind.

"Come on, Golbat, let's go!" he shouted to it, putting the pokéball back to his pocket.

The bat looked down lazily. Then it closed its eyes and turned away. Topaz watched it helplessly.

"Golbat, follow."

It was Opal. As soon as the pokémon heard the girl's voice, it obeyed and flew after the girl.

"Thanks…" Topaz huffed when he reached the girl. She was a fast walker. "So, where are we heading?"

"To the city."

"Oh, okay."

The walked in silence for a while, but Topaz couldn't stand it.

"Hey, where are you from?"

The girl sighed but didn't say anything.

"I'm from Lavender Town. Have you ever been there?"

Still no answer.

"Umm… which was your first pokémon? Mine was – Oh, look!"

He had noticed a yellow-brown giraffe lurking in the middle of bushes nearby.

"That looks like a cool pokémon…" the boy mused. He quickly glanced Opal. "Hey, I bet you don't think I can catch it!"

The girl rolled her eyes. Topaz turned to Golbat.

"Golbat! Use Thunderbolt!"

The bat just flew up and down and glared the boy with its narrow eyes. Topaz sighed and released Aro from its newly upgraded pokéball, which now was bright orange with two black stripes.

"Okay, Aro! Let's show them who we are! Use Ember!" he commanded the puppy.

Aro obeyed and the attack hit the opponent. The giraffe flinched but then hopped forward and released a multicoloured beam from its mouth.

"Dodge it and use Flame Wheel!"

For a moment Aro was nothing but a fiery ball that rolled towards the giraffe, who evaded the attack by jumping aside. However, it was slightly damaged by the heat of the flames.

"Okay, attack from the back! Use Tackle!"

Aro tossed itself to the opponent but the giraffe's tail sunk its teeth to the growlithe.

"Darn... Aro, use Ember again!"

The attack used from such a short distance did a lot of damage. The tail let go and the giraffe trembled from exhaustion.

"Okay, let's end this! Go, pokéball!"

The giraffe vanished inside the ball which rolled on the ground for a while and then stopped.

"See, I told you!" Topaz smiled to Opal.

The girl didn't seem to be very impressed; she crossed her arms and started walking again. "Right. Can we go now? We're in a hurry."

Topaz watched her a bit disappointed. Then he collected his new pokémon and ran after her.

Soon the two reached the enormous city. Topaz wanted to try the itemfinder once more but Opal was quite sceptical.

"…and you still believe that it can find the power?"

The boy looked at his companion offended. "Of course it can. I told you I found the one in Olivine with it. Look."

He held the handles of the machine. Almost immediately it started beeping and shaking violently but then – almost as quickly as it started – it fell silent.

"What the –" Topaz shook the device but nothing happened. "Oh, it must have been some kind of an overload. After all, this is a big city…"

They wandered on the streets pointlessly for a while. Then Topaz got bored again and started to study his newly-caught pokémon.

"Let's see now…" He took the pokédex and held it above the pokéball.

"_Girafarig, the Long Neck Pokémon. When threatened, both of its heads use psychic powers to scare the enemy off_."

"Psychic, huh?" Topaz mused, stopping in the middle of the street. "Hey, I know! Maybe it could locate the power with its psychic abilities!"

Opal had stopped walking, too. She crossed her arms and looked at him in a waiting manner.

Topaz cleared his throat. "Go, pokéball!" Soon the girafarig stood before them, still looking a bit out of place.

"Okay, Giro", he said. That seemed like a suitable name for the pokémon. "Umm, could you try to locate a sanctuary that's hidden in the city?"

The girafarig's eyes glowed in white colour for a second. Then it turned around, facing the other end of the street.

"That way?" the boy asked enthusiastically. The pokémon neighed admittingly. "Okay, let's go!"

Giro led the boy, the girl and the bat deeper into the city, through narrow alleys and beautifully paved streets, until it stopped at the entrance of a small, ragged building.

"The Underground Entrance", Topaz read on a nearby sign. But Opal and Golbat were already at the door.

There was nothing but a pair of stairs inside, leading to lower level. Topaz hesitated a bit, because they weren't in very good shape. But he had no choice but to follow Opal, who went down straight away.

The lower level consisted only of a dim, broad corridor. There were a couple of small boutiques there, mostly with old-fashioned clothes or some miscellaneous small stuff in the windows. Only three of four people were pacing down the corridor.

"Oh, what a wonderful, noble creature you have there!"

A tall man with a curly black moustache and a top hat approached the two. There was something ludicrous in his way of moving; he walked in swaying, from one side to another, and his hat seemed to fall off any minute.

He stopped in front of the girafarig and stared it entranced. The pokémon stepped back a bit and put its yellow ears back.

"Umm, thanks", said Topaz slowly. Opal stood silent, observing the situation.

"Yes, yes, a noble creature indeed, yes. Perhaps you might be interested in knowing its level of happiness, hm?"

"Uh… actually, I just caught it, so…" Topaz muttered, and the man immediately turned to the only other pokémon nearby, which was Golbat.

"Well, maybe this one, then? It has a significant sparkle in its eye, yes. But it doesn't seem as happy as it could be, oh, not at all, I'm afraid."

The bat watched the man completely astonished as he babbled on. "Perhaps the young mister would like it to have a haircut, yes? Because, that is what I am, a Haircut Brother. And – as I might add – the younger and better of the two of us."

Topaz stared the man completely speechless. Opal finally opened her mouth.

"Golbat, show him just how happy you are."

Topaz could swear that the pokémon smiled mischievously before launching a small Thunderbolt towards the man. The Haircut Brother ran away in terror, his top hat swaying on his head.

Topaz shook his head. "You shouldn't have done that. He didn't mean any harm."

Opal just frowned, and admitting his loss, Topaz waved Giro to continue the search.

Soon the pokémon came to a halt.

"Wait, something's not right…"

Topaz had noticed a large, rugged hole in the wall. They walked closer.

"Looks like an explosion. Giro, is this the place?" Opal asked.

The pokémon nodded, and the girl's face darkened.

"Someone's been here already."

* * *

"What a lost errand", Topaz whined a couple of moments later, when they were standing in the sunlight again. The hole had lead to a small chamber full of drawings of pokémon eggs and instructions on how to groom or take care of pokémon. The power, instead, was gone.

Opal said nothing. She was already climbing onto the metallic back of her skarmory.

Topaz was slightly puzzled of what the Haircut Brother had said. The golbat looked at him from a little distance, as grumpily as always.

Suddenly he remembered something from the past. A small, silvery object that chimed softly when the wind tinkled it…

"The soothe bell!" Topaz reached his bag and started searching for the small bell. Finally he found it and walked to Golbat.

"Here, I want you to have this", he said, holding the item high. "It is said to foster friendship and calm the pokémon's spirit."

The bat watched the boy suspiciously but let him tie the bell around its leg.

"There. Now, Golbat, would you carry me?"

Something in Golbat's eyes was now different. It grabbed the boy with its claws a bit more gently, and soon Topaz felt the ground disappearing under his feet as the bat rose to the air.

"_Just something to remember me by_…" That's what Copycat had said. Well, Copycat, Topaz thought smirking, you couldn't believe all the things that have happened ever since we parted.


	9. Friends

Chapter VIII: Friends

It was raining. Opal felt her wet hair sticking into her forehead, and the wind buzzing through her ears. She swiped the hair carelessly from her face. They had a long way ahead of them, and the weather wasn't going to get better anytime soon.

She didn't want to stop just because of some rain. She didn't have time; the power in Goldenrod City – the power of breeding and grooming – had been stolen, and who knew how long ago. What if the next one was gone too?

The girl's thoughts were cut off by angry hissing from behind. She glanced her companion.

"Owch! I _said_ to hold on tight, not to rip my shoulders off!"

Oh, right. Topaz was yelling to Golbat. The creature hissed again, and the boy let out a terrified shriek. "No no no! Don't let go! Okay, squeeze as much as you like!"

With an amused smile, Opal fixed her eyes back to the heading. Her expression quickly darkened when she noticed a flash of lightning illuminating the horizon.

Darn it. Blackthorn City, where they were heading, was still pretty far away. Right now they were flying in the middle of nowhere with only boundless mass of trees below them.

And the rain just kept on pouring.

"Umm, Opal? Should we land somewhere and try to find shelter?" Topaz's voice asked uncertainly after a while.

The rumble of thunder was now a little closer. Opal sighed and peered through the thickening darkness. The forest had become thinner, and there were wide meadows ahead.

"Just keep going, Skarmory."

Topaz made an objecting sound but Opal ignored it. Skarmory sped up, and the boy had no choice but to follow.

"We need to land!" he called out. "It's no use trying to fly through a thunderstorm! You're only going to get us killed!"

The wind was now so strong that the metallic bird struggled to stay in course. It flinched as a lightning bolt hit a tree not far away in the south.

"Just keep–"

The next one almost struck the bird.

"Opal!"

The girl looked scared for a mere second as the skarmory steadied itself. Then she turned her head and noticed that Topaz was eyeing her with great concern.

"It's no use", the boy said again, suddenly in a very soft tone. "I think I spotted a house down there. Follow me!"

Golbat flew lower, and, admitting her defeat, Opal ordered Skarmory to follow it. Soon she too noticed the house – actually it looked more like a barn – on top of a grassy hill.

When they got closer, it became certain that the building was deserted. It had definitely been a barn, but now there were large holes in the roof, and the walls desperately needed paint. It seemed that no-one had been there in ages.

Topaz was already at the door when Opal landed. The rain washed over her furiously, and suddenly she realized that she was freezing.

"Come on! I picked the lock", Topaz said. "The door is now open."

Shivering, the girl stepped inside. It was dark in there but she could see the grey sky through the holes. The barn seemed to have only one large room with some hay bales in the corner. Large puddles covered the bare ground in places where the rain had come through the ceiling.

Topaz went closer to examine the bales and noticed that they were dry. With them and some help from enthusiastic Aro, they soon had a fire burning happily in a dry corner.

Opal eyed the fire troubled at first, but then sat by the fire to warm up. Topaz walked around the barn with his itemfinder. They could hear the rain pounding on the roof. Occasionally a lightning flashed outside.

She tapped her knee impatiently with her fingers. If the storm only stopped! They could already almost be in Blackthorn, locating the next sanctuary. But now they had to wait for the weather to clear up, and by that time it could be too late; Jet and the others might have already found the next power.

The girl gritted her teeth. She couldn't be late, just couldn't. Not again.

With a sigh she closed her eyes. The drumming sound of raindrops became louder.

_She was seven again, standing in front of the remains of the house, with the rain falling into her hair._

_"Mommy… daddy…" She tried to shout, but there was no sound. In the complete silence, she could hear was the raindrops hitting the ground all around her. Umbreon pushed her hand gently, as if it was saying: 'Come, there's nothing we can do anymore.'_

_But she couldn't move. If it wasn't for Umbreon's Rain Dance, the house would still be in flames. Now the blackened rafters were sticking miserably out of the walls, and the roof had partly collapsed._

_The girl felt something warm on her face. She stuck her tongue out and tasted something salty among the raindrops._

"Opal?"

The voice put her back to reality.

"Are you okay?"

She opened her eyes to notice Topaz standing before her, with that same concerned look again. The itemfinder was lying on the ground next to the boy. Apparently he hadn't found anything valuable.

"It's just… I don't like rain, that's all."

He sat next to her. "Or fire, it seems. Why is that?" he asked, looking into the flames.

"It's a long story…"

"Well, I'm all ears."

Opal turned her head and fixed her eyes on the boy. "Hey, how can you be so positive all the time?"

He seemed to think about it for a while before answering.

"I think it's because of my mom", he said, biting his lip. "She raised me and my siblings all by herself, but she never complained. 'Always appreciate life', she says. 'No matter what you meet on the way.'"

"Oh." Opal couldn't bring herself to ask the next obvious question. There they were, practically strangers, sitting by the fire and telling each other personal things.

Topaz, however, seemed to read her mind. "My father left before I was born, and I've never met him. That's okay, though. We've got along, even without him."

He frowned. "But the thing is that I kinda miss my family. I have never been this far from home."

Opal watched him in silence. To her own surprise, her lips curved into a little smile.

"I miss my family too."

Topaz stood up and tossed more hay in the flames. "Where are they now?" he asked.

The smile faded, and the girl stayed silent.

Topaz sighed. "It's okay, you can trust me. See, I trust you too."

Opal raised her head. "You do?"

Topaz nodded. "Yeah." He held out his hand. "So… friends?"

Friends… Opal tasted the word in her mouth. It actually felt quite good. With a smile, she took the hand.

"Friends."


	10. Dragon's Den

Chapter IX: Dragon's Den

Topaz squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip puzzled. "Tell me again. So there are nine powers…"

"…that belonged to nine skilful trainers", Opal sighed. "How many times I have to tell you that?"

"I'm only trying to see the pattern here!" The boy protested and rolled his eyes. "And those trainers are like the ancient Elite Four or something?"

"Or like the Dex Holders. Each of them possesses a certain power."

"For example breeding, exchanging, evolving…"

"…capturing, healing…"

"Right. And here, in Dragon's Den", Topaz said, peering into the cave. "Should be the next one… training?"

Opal nodded. She called her snubbull out and stepped inside the cave.

"Okay, Snubbull. Use Flash", she ordered.

Topaz blinked as the pink creature did the attack and illuminated the cave's entrance. Since when could snubbull do _that_?

The boy took out his pokédex, fiddled with it for a while and looked at the screen, frowning. "Umm… Opal, did you teach that move to Snubbull?" he asked.

The girl was busy examining the cave with her dark eyes. "Yeah", she replied distractedly.

"But how did you do that? It says here that snubbull can't learn Flash."

The girl clicked her tongue impatiently. "I don't know. I just good at teaching new moves to pokémon", she answered, shrugging.

Topaz was so preoccupied by the thought that at first he barely noticed the giant lake that opened in front of them.

"Do you think the power's somewhere down there?" the boy mused.

Opal crossed her arms, gazing at the lake. "Could be. But the owner of this power was the expert of dragon-type pokémon, so it might also be somewhere high." She fell silent for a moment and then added: "Actually, it can be anywhere around here."

They walked around the lake for a while, until they came across a small wooden dock. There was an old rowing boat, too.

"There's an ancient shrine across the lake, and people like the gym leader and the priests sometimes need to go there to pray", Opal answered the unspoken question in Topaz's eyes. "We should take a look at the shrine. Maybe the power is inside it", she said. "Let's go."

Soon they had rowed into the middle of the lake. Snubbull's Flash illuminated only a small area around them, but Topaz could sense that the cave was very spacious and high.

It was quiet there; only the splashes of the oars hitting the surface of water broke the silence. Occasionally, however, Topaz could swear that he heard distant voices whispering in the darkness.

Suddenly Opal stopped rowing. Her face looked eerie because of the light that cast shadows under her glimmering eyes. She seemed to be listening to something.

And then Topaz, too, could hear it.

There was a quiet splash just outside the illuminated area. The water was rippling. Topaz's hand closed around Veno's pokéball.

"Snubbull", Opal whispered. "Fire a Shadow Ball towards it."

Snubbull formed a glowing, purple ball between its paws and shot it towards the ripples, but whatever "it" was, it had disappeared. The ball soared above the water and slowly faded away.

There was another, now louder, splash behind them. When Topaz turned his head, he saw a giant blue tail vanishing under the surface.

The boy jumped and nearly fell off the boat. "What was that?" he breathed, his heart pounding.

Opal stayed silent. Her hand was inside her pocket, and she was staring the spot the tail had disappeared.

The next ripples rocked the boat. Again, topaz only saw the tip of the thing's tail, but Opal took her pokédex quickly out of the pocket and directed the device towards the thing.

"_Dratini, the Dragon Pokémon. It is full of life energy. It continually sheds its skin and grows steadily larger._"

The two stared the screen that showed a light blue serpentine with big, friendly-looking eyes in astonishment. Then, Topaz started to laugh. Opal looked relieved.

The dratini's head popped out of the water. It looked at them in a curious manner.

"Here, take this", Topaz said smiling and offered it a rawst berry he just took from his bag. "I bet you'll like it."

The dratini swam closer and sniffed the berry. In a light blue flash, the pokémon took it and disappeared into the water again.

"Man, and I thought it was something really terrible", Topaz was still chuckling as Opal continued rowing. Eventually the boat bumped softly into land. Topaz noticed the faint light that was coming from ahead.

"Is that the shrine?" he asked.

"I think so", Opal mumbled. She looked anxious. Silently, she recalled Snubbull and hopped off the boat. As she did so, the dratini appeared again from the water.

"Look, it wants more berries!" Topaz pointed out, digging the insides of his bag. "Oh, I found one. Opal, catch!"

He threw the berry to the girl, who rolled her eyes a bit but gave it to the serpentine. It ate the berry gladly and nuzzled its head against her hand.

Then the pokémon vanished again. "Well, we'd better get going", Opal said, standing up.

The two walked towards the light, and indeed, it turned out to be from the shrine. There was nothing but a table full of candles inside its only room, though.

"So much for the sacred place… so, what now?" Topaz asked.

Opal closed her eyes. "You really believe that the itemfinder of yours could locate the power?"

Topaz's face brightened. "Yeah, of course!" He rummaged through his belongings. "Why didn't I remember that thing myself?"

Soon he straightened, holding the item ceremonially in his hands.

He cleared his throat. "Okay, let's give it a go…"

He held his breath and squeezed the handles. The device started bleeping.

The boy sighed in relief. "See, like I told you – woah!"

The itemfinder spun around wildly and dragged the boy along. Opal followed as the device lead the boy away from the shrine.

There was a tiny, unnoticeable door on the rocky wall. And there was a symbol above it: a dragon's head with vicious eyes and two tiny horns.

Topaz struggled with the itemfinder and managed to put it away at last. Panting, he opened the door.

Behind it, there was a narrow staircase carved into the rock. The boy and the girl climbed up cautiously.

When the long stairs ended, Topaz and Opal found themselves in a spacious chamber. It was a retangle-shaped room, with big and ominous dragon statues on both sides and a clear passage in the middle. At the end of it there seemed to be a larger statue.

They walked towards it. Soon it became visible that the statue resembled a strict-looking woman in a cape. Her hair was in a tight plait, and her features were sharp. From her stand, she seemed to gaze down at them sternly.

Suddenly Topaz realized something; the candles were lit here, too.

"Strange… do you think someone's been here?" he muttered.

But it wasn't Opal who answered.

"You got that right, punk", said an unfamiliar voice behind their backs.

Topaz, along with Opal, turned around. A blonde man stepped lazily from behind one of the statues.

With a malicious smirk he started walking closer, holding out his hand.

"Hand me the powers."


	11. Dragon's Den part 2

Chapter X: Dragon's Den (part 2)

Opal's mind was racing. This was a trap, a simple, _stupid_ trap. How could've she been so foolish?

Jasper walked slowly closer and closer. The girl knew that there was only an old statue and a solid wall behind them. There was only one way out, and Jasper was standing between it and them.

"You liked the candles? It was my idea, for creating the right atmosphere, you know", the man chatted, still approaching.

Topaz glanced sideways at the girl. She shook her head slightly. The opponent was powerful, and she wanted to avoid the battle if she could. Her mind was already working on a plan.

"Look, fork them over and I won't hurt you, kids", Jasper said, the smirk on his face now melting away.

Topaz uttered a gloomy laughter. "Yeah, like we'd believe _that_…"

Opal placed her hand imperceptibly onto one of the pokéballs in her belt. Jasper was too busy glaring Topaz to notice. The girl looked around and noted the places of the candles. They were in two straight lines amongst the smaller statues.

_Make it work_, she prayed. She felt a wave of adrenaline going through her body as she grabbed the pokéball and threw it. "Ominous Wind, Umbreon!" she ordered the materializing black creature.

Jasper let out a surprised yell and reached for his own pokéballs, but it was too late. A giant gust of wind put out all the candles. The darkness fell over them.

Opal grabbed Topaz's hand and sprinted past the cursing man. She knew that Umbreon would follow, as it could easily see in the dark.

There was a glimpse of faint light coming from the exit, and the girl, the boy and the pokémon dashed to the stairs. From the angry shouts Opal suspected that Jasper was after them.

After stumbling down the narrow stairway, they rushed through the small door and ran past the shrine to the rowing boat.

Except the boat wasn't there.

The girl looked around, only to notice a vicious-looking woman walking towards them.

"_Jade._"

The woman gave a nasty laugh. "I knew Jasper couldn't handle this on his own."

"Hey, I heard that", huffed the man, who had now reached the rest of them.

Jade scowled at him before turning to the two. "And now, children, give the powers nicely to us", she said softly, and a pokéball appeared in her hand, "or we have to battle."

This time there was no place to run, with water and rock on the sides, Jasper behind and Jade in front of them. Opal gritted her teeth and prepared for the battle.

"Go, Blastoise!" Jade shouted, and at the same time Jasper released his houndoom.

Before Opal could decide which one to attack, Topaz said to her under his breath: "You take the guy, I have unfinished business with Jade."

He stepped towards the woman and called out Veno. Opal and Umbreon turned to face Jasper and the houndoom.

"Oh, I have missed you, foolish boy", she heard the woman sneer. "Blastoise, use Bite on that poor thing!"

Then Jasper ordered the houndoom to attack Umbreon, and she lost track of everything else.

"Counter it with Dark Pulse!"

The attack stopped the giant hellhound and caused it to utter a grim howl. Then it launched itself straight at the smaller pokémon, biting and scratching it.

"Dark Pulse straight at its face!" Opal shouted.

Umbreon opened its mouth and shot a black and purple beam at its opponent, but somehow the hellhound managed to dodge it by hopping aside just in time.

Jasper chuckled. "Fast, isn't it? Use Flamethrower, Houndoom!"

The flare hit Umbreon painfully at its side. The pokémon winced but was still standing.

"Stay strong! Use Dig!" Opal yelled, but suddenly her pokémon fell on the ground, looking agonized.

"What's wrong?" Opal asked restlessly. Jasper was just watching the scene, looking amused.

The girl took her pokédex and directed it slowly at the hellhound.

"_Houndoom, the Dark Pokémon. If you are burned by the flames it shoots from its mouth, the pain will never go away._"

Okay, this was bad. Opal exhaled deeply and reached for Umbreon's pokéball.

"It's okay, you can rest a little, Umbreon", she said, but suddenly the pokémon stood up.

"'Breon", it panted, looking at its master determinedly, as if saying: 'I can do this.'

With a sudden feeling of great pride, Opal ordered her pokémon attack once more with Dark Pulse. This time it struck the hellhound, who immediately jumped again towards Umbreon.

"Use Dig!"

Umbreon disappeared underground. Houndoom looked around abashedly, not knowing where the opponent would strike.

"Flamethrower into the hole, Houndoom!" Jasper shouted. "That'll smoke it out!"

But he was too slow. Umbreon struck Houndoom from below, and the hellhound slid almost to its owner's feet.

"Get up, _get up_!" the man cried, shaking his fist. "Use Bite!"

Once again the pokémon ran towards its enemy, and its sharp teeth sunk painfully into Umbreon's flesh.

Umbreon tried to struggle but the enormous jaws holding it still were too powerful.

"Flamethrower!"

"_No!_"

Hellhound opened its mouth, and bright flames burst out, straight at the smaller pokémon. It let out a faint wail before falling motionless.

Topaz and Jade were still exchanging blows. Opal felt the boy's back against her own. For a fraction of second, she wondered if he could feel her racing heart through all the flesh and bone.

Then she raised her eyes to her opponent. Jasper and the houndoom stood side by side, unconscious Umbreon lying next to them.

"Give the powers to me", the man said, his hand resting idly on Houndoom's head, "or you'll end up the same way."

He swiped the Umbreon's forehead gently with the tip of his shoe, a cruel smirk on his face.

"No?" He crooked an eyebrow. "Okay then, Houndoom. _Do it_!"

Fire.

Of all things, it had to be fire.

Opal watched in horror as yet again the giant black creature opened its mouth. She saw the red and orange flames forming between the powerful jaws.

And she couldn't move. Nor could she close her eyes. She just stared the sight horrified and mesmerized at the same time.

The flames would have hit her, but they didn't.

"What are you doing? Get out of the way!" a voice was yelling into her ear. Opal could feel someone pushing her aside.

The feeling of cold water against her cheek got her back to her senses. She blinked and stood up shakily.

Topaz had collapsed to the rocky ground, and a beautiful light purple moth was lying next to him. Opal's unclear mind couldn't quite understand where it had come from.

Jade stepped to the boy and lifted his head harshly. A crooked smile appeared on her narrow face. She then raised her eyes and looked at Opal.

"Oooh, he's unconscious", the woman said, grinning. "It seems that Prince Charming paid a great price for saving you, little girl!"

Horrified, Opal noticed the boy's blackened clothes and burnt yellow hair. And there seemed to be something dark dripping down to the floor from the right side of his head. Jade dragged the boy up and held him by the shoulders.

"You don't want anything else happening to him, right?" Jasper asked Opal, the cruel smirk still on his face.

He was about to step closer, holding out his hand, but suddenly he stopped.

A sound of footsteps rumbled closer. Jade and Jasper turned around.

A man with spiky hair and dark clothes approached. Opal felt chills going down her neck as she recognized the man.

Jet's face was so pale that it seemed to glow faintly in the dim cave. He stopped for a moment, as if examining the battlefield. Then he walked past the two adults, stopping in front of Opal.

"I know you", he said quietly, but every word echoed clearly from the rocky walls. "Those eyes… You are his daughter, am I right?"

Opal looked up at the man, with those dark eyes full of anger and disgust. She didn't say anything, only nodded shortly.

"And you have been after us ever since the… incident? That has been a long time, I reckon."

The man took two items from his pocket. Both were round, large coins, one with a plain square and one with the same dragon symbol that had been on the tiny door, the symbols of Goldenrod and Blackthorn's gym badges, respectively.

"I am sure you have more of these. Four, to be precise." Jet glanced at the unconscious boy behind him. "Give them to me, and he lives."

Opal fixed her eyes to Topaz. For so long she had done things alone. It had been so simple, not needing to look after anyone. But things were different now, the girl thought bitterly. She didn't have much choice, did she?

Slowly, her hand disappeared into her pocket and soon returned with a small, green pouch. She placed it into Jet's hands. The man opened it and examined the contents. Apparently he was satisfied, because he then turned around and nodded to Jade. She stepped closer and shoved Topaz into Opal's arms.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Get the two pokémon and then follow me", Jet said to his companions and after that vanished into the darkness.

Jasper looked at the woman at his side. "What two pokémon? Those lying on the ground?" he asked her confusedly, pointing Umbreon and the venomoth.

The woman looked like she could hit him. "Not them, the vulpix and the growlithe, of course! You know the children have them, you idiot!"

"Oh, them, right…"

Opal swayed a bit under the weight of Topaz. There was no way she could keep the two from taking the pokémon. Both Blastoise and Houndoom were still in good shape, and she couldn't battle them both at the same time. Jade and Jasper stepped closer.

All of a sudden a small splash shattered the calm water surface.

"What was that?" asked Jade.

Jasper jumped. "I saw it! It was a giant blue something, going under the surface!" he said in a high-pitched tone.

They peered into the water, and after a while, the same light blue pokémon, that Opal and Topaz had fed the berries to, popped out of the water.

"Oh, it's only a dratini", Jasper sighed. "Shoo, you miserable runt! We've got work to do."

He took a rock and threw it at the pokémon, who dodged it easily and responded playfully with a shower of water from its mouth.

"Why you…" the man cursed. "Houndoom, use Flamethrower!"

The attack might have been more powerful if the opponent hadn't been in the water. However, it had another effect; the dratini wasn't playing anymore.

The light blue serpentine rose to its full length, which was quite a lot. Opal suddenly remembered the pokédex entry saying something about dratini's habit to shed its skin to grow bigger. This one had to be almost full-grown.

The dratini's body became surrounded in an eerie, light blue orb. Then it slammed itself into the houndoom, who collapsed to the ground.

"It – it _crushed_… my Houndoom… with one hit…" Jasper spluttered, his eyes round and wide.

"Idiot! Let me handle it!" cried Jade, stepping forward. "Blastoise!"

The blastoise grabbed dratini's tail with its jaws. The serpentine let out a loud howl and opened its mouth and shot a swirling twister of pure energy straight at the blastoise's face.

The power of the Dragon Rage was enough to knock out the large tortoise.

"Let's get out of here!" Jasper yelled, stumbling backwards, and Jade quickly returned the fainted blastoise.

"Look, little girl", she grumbled and tossed the final angry glare at Opal. "Don't get in out way again. You won't get so lucky next ti–"

"Come on already!" She was interrupted by nervous Jasper. "I bet Jet's already off to Cinnabar…"

"Jerk! You weren't supposed to say that aloud!" Jade hissed angrily before running after him.

After watching them go, Opal reached to Topaz's bag. If she was lucky, there should be one or two left…

Her fingers rummaged through all kinds of things inside the bag, until they faced something soft and damp on the bottom. She pulled out a rawst berry.

The dratini recognized the berry and approached her gladly. She patted its rough skin, and the pokémon closed its eyes satisfied.

"Thank you, dratini", the girl whispered.


	12. Explanations

Chapter XI: Explanations

Topaz opened his eyes. Then he closed them again. It made no difference.

"_You are his daughter, am I right_?"

What a strange dream he had had. There had been that calm and quiet but still somewhat threatening voice in it. And he was sure there had been more, but he just couldn't remember.

He became aware of the throbbing pain on the right side of his head. Slowly, he raised his right hand and touched the spot that hurt.

There was some sort of a bandage there, but it still made him wince, and he put the hand back. It seemed to land on something soft and smooth. He decided to open his eyes once more and look around. It took a while for them to adjust to the dark. Apparently, he was lying on a blanket he recognized to be one of Opal's. She had lent them the other night when they had to sleep in the barn, because he hadn't got any.

So where was she? There seemed to be no-one in sight. The place was cold, dark and rocky.

Wait, how had he even ended up in a place like this?

He stood up carefully, rubbing his cheek. Oh yeah, It was Dragon's Den. They had come here to get the power, and then –

Images of the things that had happened reappeared in his mind: the tiny door with a dragon mark, the chamber, the blonde man and Jade, the battle…

The battle had gone well at first. But the opponent was way too strong. Veno had been amazing, though. Suddenly it had started to glow with bright, white light. His beloved little venonat had evolved into a huge, light purple moth. Oh, the pride he had felt.

He searched for his bag and was glad to notice it was nearby. And all of his pokéballs were inside, too. He was just about to release Veno, just to admire its new appearance, when he remembered something else.

Just after Veno had crashed to the ground unconscious, he had sensed a strange silence behind his back. That's odd, he had thought. Shouldn't Opal be battling too?

Then he had turned around, noted what was going on and pushed the girl aside. But the flare had hit him instead. He must have fallen unconscious.

But where was the girl now?

With another look around he recognized the place. It was not far from the battlefield. Without a better idea, he decided to wander there, towards the lake.

And there she was; Opal sat on the rock, her feet in the water. Dratini's head lay on her lap, and the girl petted it distractedly.

Hearing the nearing footsteps, she raised her head. Topaz sat down next to her. The dratini looked at the boy warily, but then recognized him and let out a satisfied, purring sound.

"Thanks for the bandage and all…" Topaz started. The girl just nodded, gazing the lake.

"Uh, what happened?" The boy asked.

"Because of that Flamethrower, you fell and hit your head pretty badly."

Topaz glanced at the girl quickly. "And what about the bad guys?"

Her eyes still fixed to the lake, she told briefly what had happened. Afterwards the both of them sat in silence, deep in thought.

The powers were gone. Everything was lost. The thought struck Topaz like a bucketful of icy water. But he shook the idea off quickly.

"So… that Jet-guy, he's their boss?" he asked after a while.

"You could say that."

The boy thought about her story. Some pieces were still missing.

"But why are they so interested in Aro and Vulpix?"

The girl frowned a little. "I don't know", she said hesitantly. "I've never thought about it, but that's strange, isn't it?"

"Yeah. What do they need two fire pokémon for? To burn somebody's house or something?" Topaz mused.

The girl's expression darkened.

"What's wrong?" Topaz asked with a concerned look on his face. To his confusion he noticed that the girl's eyes suddenly looked rather damp.

"The powers are gone", she whispered. "And I… I couldn't stop them."

The dratini raised its head, wondering why the petting had stopped. Topaz gave it a rawst berry, and the head fell back to the girl's lap.

"Opal… it's not your fault", the boy then said gently. He hesitated a bit, but put his arm around the girl's shoulders. "You did what you could."

"But it wasn't _enough_!" she said furiously. "I've – I've let them down!"

"Who have you let down?" Topaz asked.

With her eyes glistering with tears, she began to speak.

"My father was a great researcher. He studied pokémon moves and how they were learned. Especially he was interested in teaching certain moves to pokémon that usually couldn't learn them. But he had another passion, too. You see, the legend of the nine powers. Together, they are said to represent the best, the most powerful trainer there is. His ambition was to locate each one of their sanctuaries and to study the myth. But due to his other research, he wasn't able to travel far and wide after the powers. That's why he had to study them from home, by collecting all the information he could have about them.

"Then came that horrible day. Dad had three visitors – two men and a woman – over at home, which was strange because usually he dealt with such things at the lab. I only caught a small glimpse of them before dad shut the living room door, but I remember their names, because they all started with J: Jasper, Jade and Jet."

Topaz opened his mouth to say something, but she continued:

"Me and mom were nearby, and we heard them when they were leaving. Dad sounded angry. And then, I remember the pale man – Jet – saying: 'So that is your final answer? Then you should prepare for the consequences.' Mom asked dad what it was all about but he didn't say a word, he just looked worried. That night I had sneaked outside with dad's umbreon. I wanted to become a pokémon trainer but they said that I was too young, so I sometimes went secretly to a nearby field to train with their pokémon.

"But when I got back to the house…" She let out a small sob. "Th-the house was… on fire… and they – my parents…"

Her voice faded away. Topaz didn't know what to say. The girl closed her eyes and sighed before speaking again:

"After the flames had extinguished by Umbreon's rain, I went in. Among the few things that I found were the pokédex and _this_."

She held out the same old red notebook that Topaz had seen her reading occasionally on their journey. The boy took it in his hands and flipped the pages. Almost all of them were full of small, neat writing and drawings. He noticed a drawing of a coin that had a familiar eight-pointed star and a circle on it.

"'_The Evolver'_", he read. "_'The trainer with the Ultimate Power of Evolving – in Vermilion City? Rumours about evolution stones in the water… the symbol presumably similar to Vermilion Gym's Thunder Badge_…' hey, that's –"

Opal nodded. "Those are dad's notes about the powers. He kept some of the information at the lab, and Jet and the others broke in and stole it. But if they had known that the more comprehensive notes were in a safe at home, I guess they would have thought twice before… you know. Anyway, my relatives took me to live with them, but after a while I ran away. I wanted to find the ones responsible for that all. And when I learned that they were after the powers, I decided to try to find them before Jet and the others did. Luckily the clues from the lab were mostly just random pieces of information, so they had to investigate more. And that gave me time to prepare myself."

She fell silent, and Topaz gave the notebook back to her. Well, the boy thought, that sure explained a lot.

"So… what now? You said they're going to Cinnabar next, right?" he asked.

Opal raised her eyebrows. "Wait – do you still want to go after them?"

"Of course I want to!" Topaz exclaimed, hopping onto his feet. "I wanna stop them too! Look, I've made a promise to Aro, and I want to protect those powers as well!"

Startled for the sudden noise and movement, Dratini looked at him annoyed and disappeared in the water.

"But… they're too strong opponents for us", Opal said hopelessly.

"Well, don't worry, then we'll train first", Topaz said, offering his hand to help the girl up.

She looked at it a little incredulously but took the hand anyway.

"And besides", the boy said, smiling mischievously, "I've got a plan."


	13. The plan

Chapter XII: The plan

"Oh, for the love of Mew, this is _boring_!" Jasper announced and kicked a small stone that was lying on the ground. It flew far over the cliff, and the man watched as it fell and soon got out of sight.

"How long do we have to stick on this bloody island anyway, Jade?"

The woman gave him an angry look. "Be silent! He'll hear you."

She glanced quickly at Jet, who was standing nearby and apparently admiring the island that opened below them. The Cinnabar Volcano was known because of its magnificent view, but the tourists stayed at the lower and safer parts below.

"Or do you want to get punished again, like after that fiasco with the dratini?" Jade hissed, turning back to the blonde man.

He shuddered. "I can still feel the thunderbolts… '_Jade, Jasper,_ _I am very disappointed in you. Now we have to catch another growlithe and vulpix –_'", he imitated Jet's cold voice but the woman looked at him so murderously that he quickly fell silent.

Just then Jet turned around and – with a small nod – summoned them closer. Jasper gave a brief glance at Jade, but she ignored it and started walking. Jasper followed her.

"What is it?" Jade asked, stopping before the spiky-haired man.

The man looked at them for a while.

"Follow me."

* * *

Little they knew that they weren't alone. A gigantic steely bird was circling high above their heads.

"_Alright, Opal, what's happening?_" Topaz's voice asked.

Opal put down the binoculars she was holding and adjusted her newly-upgraded pokédex with her other hand. Somehow Topaz had managed to add a short-range radiotelephone in it.

She knew that Skarmory's Light Screen made it impossible to see them from the distance as she was directly between them and the sun, but she still felt a little unsecure flying up there, right above the enemy.

"Looks like they're going up towards the main crater", the girl said into the radiophone. "Wait for my signal, they still need to locate the sanctuary first."

* * *

"Hey, where's all the lava? All I can see is the smoke!"

Jasper was looking down at the giant crater. Jade just rolled her eyes at him and then turned her attention to the other man.

Jet was standing on the edge of the crater. Then, without any warning, he stepped over the edge and disappeared.

"Jet!" the woman cried, rushing towards the spot where he had been standing. She looked down and to her surprise saw Jet on a tiny little platform below her.

"The power should be down there", Jet said, looking at a long stairway that lead down from the platform and disappeared into the haze.

"Wait – we're goin' down there?" asked Jasper, who had appeared next to Jade.

Jet was already gone. Jade shrugged and hopped down, onto the platform. Jasper followed, cursing under his breath.

* * *

"_It's in the crater. We'd better get started. I'm going after them._"

"Got it", Topaz whispered and targeted his own binoculars to the giant volcano. The tourists around him were admiring the turquoise sea that was surrounding the small island, and nobody noticed when the boy quickly sneaked farther from the group.

"Okay Golbat, it's show time", he muttered, releasing the pokémon. "Fly me up there, will ya?"

The bat answered merrily and lifted the boy up. After all the things they had got through together, it had grown quite fond of him. At least nowadays it obeyed, Topaz mused. Maybe the soothe bell did work, after all.

He took the pokédex from his pocket again. "Opal?"

"_Yeah?_" the girl's voice answered.

"I'm there in a sec. What's going on?"

"_Jet found a staircase straight into the crater and I think he has almost reached the bottom already. And the others are following him, but they're still pretty far._"

"Great." The volcano's top grew bigger and bigger as the boy got nearer.

"_The visibility is quite bad down here but it's okay, at least they can't see me. It must be the gas rising from the lava._"

"Good. Okay, I'm at the top now. Be careful, Opal."

The radiophone was silent for a moment.

"_You too, Topaz._"

The boy put the pokédex away as he saw the small platform and the stairs. He recognized easily the two figures, a man and a woman, climbing down.

He took three of his pokéballs and shoved them into the air.

"Okay, guys! Come on out!"

* * *

Jade peered ahead. Jet was still completely out of sight.

"I have a really bad feeling about this place, you know…" Jasper mumbled behind her.

She didn't say anything, but secretly she felt just the same. The surrounding haze, the red glow and the warmth rising from below made her feel very uncomfortable.

"Come on, Jet's already –"

But she never got to finish what she was saying; suddenly a giant explosion shook the stairs and the crater's wall.

"Get down! It came from behind!" Jasper yelled, pulling her to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Jade grumbled and staggered onto her feet.

"_Energy Ball again, Giro!_" someone shouted.

_Darn_. She knew that voice, and to whom it belonged.

And indeed, as the second explosion hit the wall next to her, she saw a very familiar figure standing on the upper steps with a bunch of pokémon. And the foolish boy was even smiling.

Well, Jade thought, if he really wanted to mess with them again… "It's your loss then, boy", she growled.

Jasper's houndoom materialized with a giant roar and launched itself towards the girafarig but was immediately cut off by that damned venomoth. Jade remembered it from their last battle.

Blasoise was too big for the narrow stairs. It would be too great a risk to battle with, she thought, fingering Fearow's pokéball inside her pocket. Yeah, it would do this time.

"Fearow, Drill Peck on that venomoth!" she cried and released the long-beaked raptor.

But the moth dashed easily past it. While doing so, it started to vibrate its wings and buzz ear-splittingly loud.

"Ugh, what's it doing? Make it stop!" Jasper shouted, covering his ears.

"Attack again, Fearow!" Jade's voice barely carried over the noise.

The pokémon turned around with a shriek, but suddenly a bright yellow thunderbolt hit it from behind. And at the same time, the buzzing stopped.

Oh yes, another familiar pokémon, Jade thought, as she recognized the golbat that was flying above that kid. But wait – didn't it belong to that other one?

Jade glanced around her. No, there wasn't a sight of the black-haired girl.

"Jasper…"

The man stopped agitating the houndoom to attack the girafarig and the last of the boy's pokémon – a brisk-looking sandslash – and looked at her. "What?"

"It's a trap. Call Jet."

* * *

Jet reached the bottom at last. He was standing on another platform, just above the flaming orange lava.

The heat made his clothes stick into his skin, and it was almost impossible see through the fumes rising from the lava, but he didn't complain. He never did; for him it was pointless to grouse about the unnecessary little things.

At first glance the platform was nothing but a tiny patch of rock between him and the fiery hell that opened below. Then he turned to face the crater's wall and found himself looking at a sizeable statue of a bearded, strong-looking man that had been engraved into a spacious inset in the wall.

He eyed the statue for a little while. Had he felt such feelings, he would have felt sorry for that somebody who had had to carve the statue here, in these conditions. The heat was unbearable.

But then his lips curved into a small, satisfied smirk. He really had found the place.

The man's big hand was offering him a coin with a flame symbol in the center.

Jet took a green pouch out of his breast pocket. He knew there was six of the powers inside, and now he would obtain the seventh one; the one that could even be the strongest, the most powerful of them all.

"The Power of Battling_…"_

He stretched his hand and closed his fist around the round object.

"_Finally._"

He put the coin to the pouch, but didn't turn around just yet.

Something had been bothering him for some time now, and finally he realized what it was.

It was quiet here. _Too_ quiet.

The pouch disappeared into the pocket again and was replaced by two pokéballs.

"I know you are there", he said expressionlessly and turned around. "Show yourself."

First, nothing happened. Then a giant, winged figure appeared from the haze.

Opal was standing on the back of a humongous skarmory. It gave a loud shriek, and Opal jumped onto the stairs. Her eyes were of pure hatred.

"Well, good day to you, Opal", Jet greeted her genially. "You managed to get through Jade and Jasper? Why, of course, it is not very hard, I reckon…"

"But what really interests me", he chatted on as the girl remained silent, and at the same time he hid the hand with the pokéballs behind his back with a casual flick. "is the unnatural silence surrounding us. It is a move of some kind, I assume?"

He looked around him, and at last noticed the small, almost invisible straight lines, that created a framework around them and the rest of the platform.

"Oh, I see. Trick Room, is it not? How clever – I never thought it could be made soundproof. Very clever indeed."

"You know what I'm here for", the girl blurted, stopping his idle chatter.

Jet tossed her a curious look. "I do? Well, then I must say you are here either to get the powers, _or_…" His eyes narrowed. "…you are here for the revenge."

"Both." Her expression didn't change a bit.

Jet uttered a small laughter. "If that is the case, you will not get what you want here. I am not giving the powers away so easily. And what comes to the second matter, I very much doubt that I am the one you seek."

The hatred in her eyes slightly faltered.

"You are asking me why?" Jet looked almost amused. "See, It was not me. It was never my intention to burn your beloved little house, Opal."

"But –"

"Why would I do that for? _Why on earth_ would I kill the one that knew so much about the artefacts I seek?"

The girl looked confused. _Idiot_, Jet thought, smiling mentally. All of her determination appeared to be gone. It was like the house of cards; a small bluster of wind, and the whole thing was history. Oh, what a waste.

Behind his back, Jet weighted the pokéballs in his hand. Should he get on with it, or should he… _soften_ the girl a little more?

Opal had lowered her head, so Jet couldn't see her face. "I knew your father rather well, Opal", he talked. "Oh, he was a charming man, was he not? He must have been a great father…"

She didn't answer.

"We had been corresponding for quite a while back then. Although he was very reserved about his study, of course…" Jet put a sorrowful expression on his face. "But I could even say that he was my mentor."

A single tear fell from the girl's eyes. The smirk returned on Jet's face. Now was the time.

He took the pokéballs from behind his back.

"But now, Opal", he said, "turn back, or I have to fight you."

* * *

"The phone's dead", Jasper said helplessly, holding the pokégear in his hands. "Man, what a timing!"

Topaz gave a laugh. "Actually it was Veno", he explained. "You remember that noise, right? It was a move called Bug Buzz. Its soundwaves can damage hearing and also all kinds of technical devices, like pokégears, for example." _All thanks to Opal, for teaching the move_, he added in his mind.

Jade looked like she could attack him herself. However, she ordered the fearow to do that instead.

"Aerial Ace! And you, Jasper, go warn Jet!"

As the fearow attacked Veno, who took a hit on its left wing, Jasper started running down the stairs.

"Oh no, you don't! Giro, Barrier!" Topaz shouted.

The girafarig's eyes glowed white, and suddenly Jasper seemed to crash into an invisible wall.

Topaz smiled to himself, but then noticed the houndoom, who was approaching the giraffe.

"Sando, help Giro!" he ordered his newly-evolved sandslash. They sure had been training hard with Opal. "And Golbat, use Thunderbolt to Fearow!"

The battle had now been split up in two: the air and the ground battle, both two versus one. And quite ironically, Topaz thought, he had both advantage and disadvantage in both of them. Jasper's houndoom was weak against ground-type Sando, but its dark-type moves could be bad for Giro, who was half psychic-type. And the golbat could easily make some severe damage to Jade's fearow with its thunderbolt, but then again, Veno was partly bug-type.

Topaz gritted his teeth. So it was down to his skills, then.

* * *

"Turn back, or I have to fight you."

The time had come. She had to make a move.

"No."

Opal's voice was barely audible. She heard the sound of opening pokéballs. She raised her head.

Jet was still standing in the same place, but there were two magneton on his side now.

"Your skarmory seems to be in a little disadvantage here", Jet said kindly. "My magneton can do a lot of harm to it, and it would be very unpleasant if it fell to the lava… Opal, it is pointless to resist."

She shook her head and gave a small smile. "I'll take my chances."

She recalled the skarmory and another pokéball appeared from her pocket. "Granbull!"

Jet merely hemmed as the pokémon materialized.

"Quite lovely, but I must say I was expecting something… let us say, _bigger._"

Opal's eyes narrowed. "Like a dratini? Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" she mocked.

Actually the fact was that she had left the pokémon in Dragon's Den, for it was forbidden to catch the Blackthorn's sacred dragon pokémon without permission. But not that Jet would care.

"Well, if I have to, I will just settle for this fine creature, then", he pondered.

Opal locked her gaze onto his eyes. "So be it."

Without a word, both of the magneton floated forward.

"Thunderbolt, both of you!" Jet told, but nothing happened. He seemed clueless for a moment, but then his expression brightened.

"Oh, I already forgot the Trick Room. They cannot do anything before the granbull, which is slower", he said lazily. "How silly of me."

"Granbull, Fire Fang on the right one!" Opal shouted.

The pitbull obeyed and crashed into the magneton with its mouth in flames.

"Use Magnet Bomb", Jet said to the other magneton.

"Dodge it!"

The granbull hopped back onto the stairs. The other magneton fired a shiny metal ball towards it, but surprisingly it curved straight at the first magneton.

"Huh?"

Opal looked contented. "Look closely. One of those magnets on magneton is a real one. While attacking, Granbull attached a magnet onto it." That small gift from Topaz had worked perfectly.

"And it attracts steel-type moves? You certainly have done your homework", Jet mused quietly. "But you took a great risk, Opal. It has another effect that I am sure you are aware of; it powers up electric-type moves."

Opal's expression hardened. "Granbull, use Focus Blast!"

"Use double Thunderbolt!"

Both magneton's electric attacks hit the pitbull mid-air, and the pokémon fell back to the stairs.

"Don't give up! Use Crunch!"

With a low grumble, Granbull stood up again and prepared for another attack.

* * *

Topaz's pokémon were all pretty worn out from the battle, but the opponents were still pressing on.

"Stay strong, Golbat!" he yelled to the bat pokémon as the fearow's sharp beak hammered its body.

Then he heard a loud yelp from the stairs. He turned to look and saw – to his terror – that Sando was struggling in between the houndoom's mighty jaws.

"Giro, hit it with Stomp!"

The hellhound let go of the yellow-brown ground pokémon but shot immediately a ball of fire out of its mouth. It missed its target, but hit Golbat instead.

Topaz bit his lip. The battle surely wasn't going very well.

The boy crossed his fingers and prayed from the bottom of his heart that Opal would be ready soon.

* * *

"It's too late", Jet said, smiling pleasantly, as Granbull rammed to the ground yet again. "One more attack, and your little granbull will be finished."

The girl looked at her suffering pokémon, who was now struggling to maintain its balance. Jet stepped forward.

"Wait", the girl said suddenly, crouching over the pokémon. "Don't do it."

Jet eyed her curiously. "Am I right to presume that you are not going to continue this little battle of ours?"

Fool, he thought. That granbull certainly was a high-leveled one, but did she really think it would be powerful enough tho fight him?

The girl's face hid behind the dark hair. She took its pokéball and quietly returned the pokémon.

"Ah, it is good to see that you realize that you can never beat me", Jet said.

Slowly, Opal stood up. "Yeah, I know that. But to be honest…" She raised her gaze, but looked somewhere over the pale man. "I wasn't counting for it, anyway. Thief!"

The last word was meant for something that Jet couldn't see. Suddenly, many things happened in a fraction of second. He looked up, but only saw a green flash and felt a strange sweep over his chest. At the same time he heard Opal releasing a pokémon.

The man looked back at Opal, but she was sitting in the back of the skarmory. And on her shoulder, there was a green little spinarak, holding the pouch where the seven powers were.

"NO! Magneton, attack! Zap Cannon, both of you!" Jet cried in a mad rage.

Both of his pokémon launched a massive stream of electricity towards the opponent, but the girl was faster.

"Light Screen!"

The electricity bounced back from the shiny wall that appeared between them. But instead of hitting the attackers, it went straight towards the crater wall.

The sound of explosion was terrifying. The stairs started to tremble portentously.

* * *

"Use Rollout!"

Sando's attack made its way towards the houndoom. The hellhound dodged the attack by hopping over the sandslash and crashed straight into Giro.

"Energy Ball, right into its face!" Topaz commanded. "And Veno, Zen Headbutt!" he added, turning to face the other battle above.

The psychic attack didn't slow down the savage fearow, who was nearing Golbat again.

"Thunderb–"

The raptor slammed the bat with its enormous wing, and the latter fell past the stairs and disappeared.

"_Golbat!_" Topaz winced and rushed to look over the edge.

First, he couldn't see anything. Then, a bright white light pierced the fumes, and suddenly a creature – much bigger than a golbat – flew towards him.

Shakily, he took out the bright orange pokédex.

"_Crobat, __the evolved form of Golbat. With its two additional wings, Crobat is able to fly much faster than Golbat._"

"You did it", Topaz whispered astonished. He could hear a distinct ring of a small silver bell when the pokémon moved.

"What is this nonsense? Fearow, crush it!" Jade screamed and put Topaz back to reality.

"Oh, no you don't. Crobat, Thunderbolt at maximum power!"

The bat flapped its wings, and a blinding stream of elecricity hit the bird. With a faint cry it collapsed to the stairs. Jade looked devastated as she recalled the pokémon.

But Topaz hadn't won yet. A miserable neigh revealed that Giro was in trouble. It lay on the ground, and the houndoom's paw rested on its body.

"Sando, use Rock Smash!" Topaz commanded hastily.

Sando hit the ground with its claws. The attack made the stairs tremble, and the ground started to move towards the houndoom.

"What are you doing? You're collapsing the stairs, foolish boy!" Jade shrieked in terror.

"Don't worry, it's just –", Topaz laughed, but then he realized that something was wrong.

The attack died away as a louder rumble boomed from below. All three of them fell silent and looked down.

The haze was still there, but something red was glowing through it. The stairs and the walls were trembling violently. Suddenly a giant rock thumped next to Topaz.

"Run!" yelled Jasper and started dragging her up the stairs. "Houndoom, follow!"

Topaz ignored the smaller stones falling around him and peered into the crater. "Where is she?" he mused. "She should be here already…"

Topaz bit his lip. Was Opal in danger? Should he go down to look for her? If anything had happened to her…

No, he wouldn't let that happen. "Alright Crobat, let's -"

But just then a savage shriek echoed in the crater. Topaz could see a large, winged figure rising from the glowing redness.

"Opal!" he sighed in relief as the skarmory and the girl got nearer. "You're all right!"

But the girl looked at him like she had seen a ghost.

"Topaz, why are you still here? The volcano is erupting!"


	14. Separate ways

Chapter XIII: Separate ways

"The volcano is erupting!"

The words struck Topaz with almost the same power as the violent rumble from below did. It felt like the whole volcano was coming apart.

"Come on!" Opal rushed the boy.

"Wait, my pokémon…" Topaz muttered and returned quickly all of his pokémon to their balls, except Crobat.

"_Now_, Topaz!" The girl sounded more and more alarmed. Topaz suddenly remembered what she had told him about her house. No wonder she didn't like the idea of all that molten magma below them.

The bat lifted the boy into the thickening air. He could feel the smoke inside his lungs; it made him cough as he tried to tell Crobat to go faster. It got hotter and hotter as the rising lava was reaching them. More rocks fell down from the crater's walls. _Please, let us get out of here alive_, he prayed in his mind. The mighty roar of the dying volcano was deafening.

Then, suddenly, he was able to see again. A patch of blue got clearer above as Crobat flew towards the sky. Finally they darted out of the smoke, into the fresh air.

They had made it outside just in time; suddenly the volcano exploded and shot out fiery lava from its insides.

Topaz laughed madly. "We… we're alive! Thank Mew, we made it!" He felt like hugging the girl who was flying next to him. She looked also very relieved.

They stopped a safe distance away from the smoke and looked back. The smile slowly melted from Topaz's face. The volcano seemed even more terrifying from up there, with the black smoke rising from the exploded crater, and the lava falling slowly down the slope.

He glanced at the girl floating in the air next to him and saw that her hair and clothes were partly burnt, and her face had patches of soot on it. He supposed that he couldn't look much better himself.

She didn't say anything, and neither did he. They just watched the sight in silence for a while. Only then they understood the complete devastation they were witnessing. The lava would eventually reach the rest of the island.

"Wh-what will happen to the people down there?" Topaz asked quietly.

Opal just shook her head and looked away. Topaz understood. The lava was going inevitably towards the city, and it would destroy everything on its way. There was nothing they could do.

Even the weather was mocking them; the afternoon sun was at its brightest, and a couple of cotton candy clouds were floating peacefully in the horizon. All those lives… Silent tears were falling from Opal's eyes, and Topaz buried his head in his hands. All those lives of the people in Cinnabar Island, all would be gone within mere hours.

After what felt like a long time Topaz finally put himself together. "Let's go", he said sadly to the girl, who just nodded in response.

They flew away from the doomed island, towards the continent. The sun was already setting when the two companions reached a very familiar destination.

"Wow… Nothing has changed here", Topaz sighed and looked at the long dock following the shoreline.

Indeed, the City of Vermilion looked just the same as the day he had come here to rescue a small puppy-like pokémon from the evil poachers. The same pokémon was now sleeping inside its orange and black-striped pokéball in the boy's bag.

"Take a nice, long rest now, okay?" Topaz heard Opal muttering to Skarmory as she put it back to its ball. "It evolved, huh?" she said, turning to the boy. "The crobat, I mean."

"Yeah", Topaz said smiling a little and petting the bat. "It happened during the distraction battle. And all the attacks worked just fine, so thanks for teaching them. But hey, I've got one thing to talk about."

"What's that?"

"You know, now that I have Veno evolved, I was thinking that I actually _could_ use it for flying, too." The boy bit his lip and looked at the crobat. "So what I'm saying is… Do you want Crobat back, or…"

Opal eyed the bat contemplatively. "No", she shook her head with a smile. "You can keep it."

Topaz's face lit up. "Really?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, you two are so grown together that I really can't take it away from you, can I?"

Topaz petted the bat again. "Did you hear that? Now I can make you a new, cooler pokéball. I was thinking of something light purple and – and oh, you need a nickname, don't you?" he babbled happily. "Okay, here goes. From now on, you'll be called… _Crobo!_"

Opal looked at the two for a while. Then she took the small, green pouch from her pocket. She turned it over, and the round, shiny objects fell on her hand. Slowly, she counted them.

_One. The Power of Healing, from the woods of Viridian._

_Two. The Power of Evolving, from the sea washing the shores of Vermilion._

_Three. The Power of Capturing, from the Eleven Pillars near Violet._

_Four. The Power of Exchanging, from under the Glitter Lighthouse in Olivine._

_Five. The power of Breeding, from the great metropolis of Goldenrod._

_Six. The Power of Training, from Dragon's Den in Blackthorn._

_Seven. The Power of Battling, from the volcanic island of Cinnabar..._

"So you got them back, huh?" Topaz had noticed the coins.

Opal nodded. "Just two more, and then we'll have all nine of them."

The boy looked excited. "Oh, great! Where're we heading, then?"

Opal looked at the sea. She was almost sure she saw a faint stream of smoke in southwest, where the Cinnabar Island was. Had _they_ made it out alive? Were they still after her and Topaz?

"It would be better for us to split up", she finally said.

Topaz looked at her with a crooked smile on his face. "Wasn't that what you said to me last time we were 'round here?"

"Yeah, something like that. Only this time we're missing a big luxury cruiser", the girl joked, but soon got serious again. "But really, we haven't got too much time, and since there's two of us, it's more convenient that way."

The boy sunk his hands deep into his pockets and looked thoughtful. The idea of them going to separate ways didn't sound like a perfect idea, but he knew she was right. Jade and the others might be already on their way to the remaining powers – if they had survived the volcanic eruption that was.

"Okay, then. Fine. Where are the two sanctuaries?" he asked.

He noticed she didn't need to look them up from her notebook. "The other one should be somewhere near Saffron City, and the other is in Fuchsia City. I'll take Fuchsia, and you can go to Saffron as you live quite near. You might know some possible places for the power there."

"Well, I have been there only once, but we'll see", Topaz said. "What information has that notebook of yours on the two?"

She took the book and gave it to the boy. "Hardly anything. Look for yourself."

He flipped the pages but couldn't find anything but one little paragraph that practically stated that the other was presumably in Saffron.

"Umm… Wait a sec, how'd you know that there's a power in Fuchsia City? There's nothing about it here."

There was a moment of silence between them. The girl evaded his gaze and glanced at the sea again. "Oh, I almost forgot. There's another place we should visit before –"

Topaz rolled his eyes. "Opal, tell me."

She sighed. "Okay, then. I know where the power is. You see, Fuchsia City… well, it's my home."

* * *

"I'm done with the eavesdropping. Let's get them now!" Jasper croaked and peered the two children standing on the dock.

He was about to rush towards them, but Jet pulled him back into the shadows of the small alley. Jade was leaning on the wall and holding her cheek that had a severe-looking burn on it. She looked almost as pale as Jet.

"Not yet, my friend", the dark-haired man said calmly.

"But they have the powers, and –", the blonde started to protest, but the dark-haired gave him a look so horrible that the taller man flinched.

"Listen, Jasper, Jade. You are going to follow them. Eventually they will find the remaining two powers. And when they do, you will take them all and bring them to me."

Jade nodded with her eyes closed. Jasper blinked. "Aren't you coming?"

"No." Jet turned to leave. "I have another place to be."

Then, without another word, he disappeared into the shadows.


	15. Upgrader

Chapter XIV: Upgrader

"Home…"

Topaz bit his lip and gazed the small trees and houses going past below. He had got used to being carried through the air by now.

"In a way, we're both going home", he said to the crobat. "You know, me and her."

"_We'll meet at the Silence Bridge_", Opal had said before mounting her skarmory. "_Topaz, I know you'll find the power._"

He had offered his hand to say goodbye, but to his surprise the girl had suddenly wrapped her arms around him. "_Just… just be safe, okay?_" she had whispered faintly into his ear. And then, she had been gone.

Topaz was still a bit blushy about the memory, but he shook himself quickly back to the present. Yeah, he was going home.

Well, almost; Topaz lived in Lavender Town, but compared to the places he had been to lately – heck, he had even visited Johto, another _region_ – Saffron City seemed like a nice familiar breeze from another, former life.

"Although I know I can't go home just yet, I have an important task to do now."

He felt a spark of pride. All his life he had stuck to the small village he called his home, but now he was on a mission to stop the bad persons and to fight for the right.

"It's kinda strange, Crobo. I never thought about leaving home and my family behind to start a journey. But then, all the sudden I was thrown in the middle of this all. It's like…"

His voice faded away. Like what? Like some higher power had guided him to go to that field to catch a sandshrew that day?

Like fate?

Something ignited in the boy's eyes. "Yes, I'm sure that's my destiny. Somehow… this all has a higher meaning, and both Opal and I are part of it."

_So, you are a Dex Holder, huh?_

Those words… The fisherman on S.S. Anne had asked him if he was one of those powerful trainers. One day Opal had explained that there were seven of them in Kanto-Johto area, and that they had more than once stopped the evil intentions of the fearful Team Rocket.

Topaz was proud that someone had assumed him to be a Dex Holder. He was sure that they had done just the same – to try and stop the villains from taking something that wasn't theirs. He sighed. But those seven kids, they had disappeared, assumedly gone to other regions for a mission of some kind. There seemed to be no-one left to protect Kanto and Johto.

The boy and the bat were almost at their destination. The high rooftops of Saffron were already visible ahead.

But something had been bothering him. Opal had also told that each of the seven Dex Holders had a special ability – something they were especially good at. That time they hadn't meant anything to him, but now…

"Didn't she say they are called Fighter, Trainer, Evolver, Healer, Breeder, Exchanger and Capturer?" Topaz mused. "Now, wait a second…"

The powers. The seven powerful artefacts. And the seven kids with special abilities. Could they be linked somehow?

But the only problem was, the boy thought, rubbing his temples intently, that there were nine of the powers, and only seven of the Dex Holders.

"It doesn't make sense. But still, about the seven powers, could it be a mere coincidence that they are just the same as those kids' abilities?"

"_The remaining two powers, what are they anyway_?" he had asked Opal before their separation.

Again, she didn't need her notebook to check them up or anything. She had just looked straight into his eyes and said: "_The one that you're after is the Power of Upgrading, the symbol of the ability to make use of different items in a pokémon battle._"

"But I am great with all kinds of machines and items, right? Did she think that I'd find the power easily because of that, or was there something else?"

_So, you are a Dex Holder, huh?_

The words echoed inside his head. Well, he _had_ a pokédex, hadn't he? And if he'd be a Dex Holder, maybe his ability would be…

"Upgrading! The Power of Upgrading! It's – it's my destiny?" he gasped. "Could it be?"

The city of Saffron opened below him. It didn't seem quite as big and frightening anymore, as he had seen many big cities on his journey.

"But where should I look? Where could it…? Ah!"

It was a distant memory: a forest, a fall, a broken arm… and a statue.

"Weren't there stone statues at the sanctuaries? I know _that place_ is not in Saffron, though", the boy mused. "But the notebook said that it's just _presumably_ here…"

He bit his lip. "Crobo, let's fly east for now, 'kay?"

As the giant bat changed its course, the boy thought about his sudden decision.

"I know I haven't got anything but a hunch. I could be wrong. But it seems that I'm going to see my home after all."

It wasn't a long flight; soon Topaz was able to distinguish the small and old-fashioned houses of the Lavender Town from the surrounding woods. The village was in the shadow of a steep rock, and basically one – and the biggest – of the buildings was partly covered into the stone.

"That's Lavender Tower. And that one, right there, is my house. Look!" The boy pointed at one of the small houses, the one right next to the pokémart. "I wonder if my mom's alright."

But there was no time for that right now. Topaz ordered the bat to land a little outside of the town. It would raise unwanted questions if he bumped into someone he knew – and in a small village like that, he thought smiling a little, everyone knew everyone.

"Wow, it's weird. Not going there", he muttered and peered at the town after recalling Crobo. "But right now", he turned around and faced the forest, "I'm going _that way_."

Topaz walked in a thick silence and an unnatural green light. Although it was still afternoon, the sunlight didn't quite pierce the leafy trees. Just like that day, he thought.

_The small and eager Topaz skipped through__ the world of trees and the green dim. He had left the yard and went to explore the nearby woods. A kid from the school had claimed that Topaz was afraid and didn't dare to go to that forest. Of course, in a blink of an eye, Topaz had run to the edge of the village and vanished behind the trees._

_After a while of happy whistling and skipping, the little boy sat on a hillock full of green grass. He panted a little and __then exclaimed: "Ha! Nothing to be afraid of. Just like I thought!"_

_He looked around and noticed a couple of bright yellow flowers growing on a side of the pathway. "Oh, they're pretty! I guess Mommy would be happy if I gave her some…"_

_He stood up slowly and stepped to the flowers and squatted before them. "And besides, it proves that I really was here… So take that, Jimmy –"_

_But just then the ground gave in, and little Topaz fell through the darkness._

"This is the place", Topaz muttered by himself as he stopped by the very familiar hillock. "Yeah, I remember. It was somewhere here…" He searched the grassy ground carefully, not wanting to fall again.

It was under a huge amount of grass and fallen leaves, but it was still there. The boy looked down at the same hole he had once fallen through. He took a flashlight out of his back and peered down. "Ugh, how am I supposed to get down there…?"

"If you want, I can help you, brat!"

Topaz didn't have time to react. A pair of hands grabbed him from behind, and he felt a painful kick on his back.

And he fell, fell, fell. Again.

Topaz groaned against the cold, dirty floor and held his right arm. The penetrating pain made it feel like it was in flames. Just like back then.

Evil laughter. Where had he heard that voice before? His mind didn't work properly.

"You have a habit of talking by yourself, you foolish boy! It was far too easy to follow you around because of that, you know?"

The words seemed to reach his mixed brain somewhat slowly. Struggling, he forced them to make sense. And eventually – they did. There was only one person who called him the 'foolish boy'.

"Jade…" the boy panted.

He looked up at the hole above and saw a blurry shadow on its edge. "Oh, you remembered! I'm flattered, kid. As I waited in Saffron, I began to wonder whether you're going to show up at all or not. You can imagine how surprised I was when I saw you turning around and heading here. And so I followed you."

It was completely dark around Topaz; the flashlight had probably gotten broken when it had hit the floor. An instinctive hopelessness crawled into his aching mind. Back then, he had waited the whole night before anyone came looking for him.

"Oh, please pick that power up for me, will you? If you do that, I just might spare your life, honey." Jade called out sweetly.

Light, I need light, the boy thought. He tried to feel the floor with his uninjured left hand but the flashlight wasn't anywhere near him. He tried to stand up but the sickening wave of pain made him utter a small wail.

"Don't make me come down there. By the way, have I ever told you about my life before I hooked up with Jet and that moron?" Jade asked lightly. "Hm, I guess not… I was in the ranks of Team Rocket, can you believe that?"

Topaz was still trying to get up and paid little attention. However, she continued: "But then they actually kicked me out. Want to know why?"

Staggering and huffing, Topaz backed up and leaned on something solid. Finally he managed to stand up. His head seemed also a bit clearer, although the agonizing pain had gone nowhere.

"Oh, don't be like that, I know you want to know the reason! You see, I was _too cruel _for them." Jade gave a mocking laughter. "Think about it, kid. They're supposed to be an evil organization, but between you and me, they're just a bunch of wussies!"

She waited for the answer. At last Topaz could gain the strength to speak up. "Well, I'd be rather a wussy than an evil witch like you, you hear?" he called out with a faint voice.

"Gah! I'll make you regret that!" the woman screamed, shaking with anger. Topaz saw an end of a rope being tossed down.

There wasn't much time. Topaz tried the solid figure behind him. It seemed to be just the thing he had thought. _The statue,_ it had to be. Was the power there?

I need light quick, he thought. "Fire… _Aro_…" he whispered and reached for his pokéballs with the left hand.

But Jade had already landed on the dusty floor. She was standing in the ray of the light that came from above. "Stand aside, I need that power." She noticed the pokéball in the boy's hand. "Oh, but your little friends won't do any good, foolish boy. They'll just end up fainting."

Despite of the pain, a sensation of pure fury went through the boy's body. And it gave him strength. "Watch what you're saying, you old hag! I'll make you pay for everything you've done to me and my friends!"

Red light flashed on the both sides. Jade's blastoise filled the dark space with its presence. But the woman stared in awe at the pokémon Topaz had just released.

"Wait – that's the same growlithe you stole from me? It's gotten… bigger."

"No." Topaz patted the arcanine's fur. "That's the same growlithe I _rescued _from you."

Jade eyed the large, evolved canine. "But do you still think you're able to beat my water-type pokémon?"

"Me and Aro swore to get stronger so that we can defeat you one day! And that's why we'll fight 'til the end!"

Jade's lips curled into a wicked smile. "That's nonsense. Go, Blastoise!"

And so it started. Topaz knew that the woman had the upper hand with the type compatibility, but he was not going to give up. "Dodge it with Flamethrower!"

Blastoise had attacked with its water cannons. When the water hit the flare, it evaporated with ear-splitting hiss. "And now, you attack!" Topaz yelled at Aro.

The creature got surrounded by sparkling orange flames and hopped into the air with its powerful hind legs. But the tortoise launched its water cannons at the arcanine and stopped the attack.

The attacks got more fierce and rough as the battle continued. Blastoise held Aro still while aiming the cannons at it, but the canine freed itself by burst into flames again. The water move still damaged its paw.

Despite Aro's remarkable speed, it was starting to wear out in front of the tortoise's strength as they kept exchanging blows. Panting, the pokémon got up once more, only to be struck down again. Still, it let out a mighty roar and crashed into the opponent.

"It has some guts, I give you that", Jade said, after another water attack hit the canine. "But it's still a pathetic, useless wimp, just like that day when –"

"_Shut UP!_" Topaz yelled, his eyes on fire. "Don't you ever say things like that anymore! You're all rotten and evil, you can never win! I believe in you, Aro!"

Despite all of its injuries and exhaustion, the large canine braced itself. Suddenly it seemed to radiate power and determination onto its surroundings, just like the boy behind its furry back. The pokémon uttered another majestic cry and glared at its opponents.

"Use the item I gave to you earlier, Aro!" Topaz ordered. "_Overheat!_"

Suddenly the whole chamber illuminated with warm, yellow light. Then all hell broke loose. In seconds, the place had turned into a flaming whirlpool of fire. Blastoise let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground. Jade screamed, either from pain of terror.

The giant fire beast neared the woman with gleaming eyes. She staggered two steps back with a horrified look in her eyes. "Don't – don't do it… Spare me…"

"Stop, Aro." Still leaning on the statue, Topaz looked at his sworn enemy. "She's not worth it."

The pain came back even stronger. In the light of the still-burning flames Topaz was finally able to see the statue properly. The hands of the man were offering the artefact – this time with a plain circle in the center – just as he had thought. But it was the man's appearance that drew the boy's attention; the stone face seemed calm but brave, and his hair looked messy the same way as the boy's. After a brief moment of examining he noticed that they had same-shaped eyes, chin and cheekbones, too. "As if looking into a mirror, but not quite…"

But now's not the time, he thought. The raging pain in the arm made him feel a bit dizzy again, so he just grabbed the power and staggered towards Aro.

"The charcoal did just the trick. And you were brilliant." Feeling the unnatural warmth beneath the fur, he mounted the creature. "You're able to jump out of that hole, right?" he muttered weakly. The pokémon growled softly.

When he got to Jade, who was still left speechless, he pointed at her. "_You_. This is the last time we'll ever meet. Just learn from this and quit messing with evil organizations and stuff."

She didn't say a word. The large canine padded past her and with a massive leap, it got out of the hole, into the green light of the forest.

"Just like when I was little…" Topaz mumbled, gazing at the leaves above, "It's great to get out of there."

_Little Topaz and his mother were walking back to the __village._

"_Promise me that you'll never run away again, Topaz."_

"_Okay, Mommy. I promise."_


	16. Tutor

Chapter XV: The Tutor

"Home…"

It was a cloudy and windy afternoon. A black-haired and dark-eyed girl strolled down the broad street. The familiar buildings with fuchsia-coloured walls opened on her right side.

"This is my home, this is where I belong. Even after all this time…"

Opal inhaled the pure air of Fuchsia City. She could tell apart the scents of the surrounding fresh pine trees, the blossoming daisies growing on the side of the street and even the faint, salty odour that the breeze carried from the sea. Her mind filled up with various unclear and incomplete memories that mixed and blurred as the air got into her lungs; she was eating ice cream on a hot, summery afternoon, she was riding the bicycle for the first time with Dad cheering and running after her, she was picking berries for the cake that Mom would bake later on…

But there was something different in the city too, she thought, gazing on her left. There was a neat-looking white fence that seemed to cover the northern part of the city. She thought she could see cages of some kind on the other side, and soon she did come across a large sign that announced with black, curvy letters: "_Fuchsia City's own Pokémon Zoo, open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m._"

She had surely been away for a long time. Back then there had been Kanto Safari Zone in the north of the city. She wondered if it still was in its place. The Safari Zone, or the gym. When she had been little, she'd spend her time dreaming about challenging the strong, mysterious ninja master Koga – and later his daughter Janine – who was in charge of the legendary Fuchsia Gym.

Maybe later, when this all was over, she'd take the gym challenge, as she had planned. Maybe she'd even ask Topaz to leave on a journey with her. Or maybe they could form a rivalry and try to beat the gym leaders before the other did. It hadn't crossed her mind to ask him when they had been travelling together. She made a mental note to ask the next time she had a change.

Opal's thoughts carried her back to the moment after visiting the collapsed sanctuary in Vermilion Gulf again because of the evolutionary stones. She wasn't sure if she had even intended to hug the boy, she thought and gazed at the passing people distractedly.

But at that moment it had felt really important. She had had a feeling that it wasn't just an ordinary goodbye. What if something happened to him – or her – before they could meet again?

Without her noticing, the girl's feet had carried her to the edge of the city. In front of her opened a narrow, sheltered pathway right into the woods. All the painful memories arose. It was all just too familiar.

"Is this the right thing to do? Have I come to the right place?" she muttered quietly.

_Stop it_, she scolded herself in her mind. She had spent far too much time with Topaz if she was already talking to the trees. She allowed herself one last deep breath before entering the forest.

The path weaved around the thick vegetation, but she knew every twist and turn well enough. But was that really the right place? If it wasn't, she'd be here for nothing. But she hadn't any other ideas.

It was just a feeling. At first, she had ignored the missing information about that power thinking she could chase after the other ones first, that she'd think about it later. But when Topaz had asked her about the locations of the last ones, the words had just come out of her.

"…_and the other is in Fuchsia City._"

And still, she knew they were true. Or at least reasonable.

An idea had occurred to her. There was nothing in the notebook, not even the name of the power. The names were commonly known among the researchers of the legend; they were mentioned in various sources, because the nine ancient trainers with their special abilities had been legendary, famous in their time.

So why wouldn't Dad write down _anything_ about it, like he had with the others, even if there'd be just a couple of sentences?

Maybe it wasn't because he didn't know anything. Maybe, possibly, it was because he already knew so much about it.

It made sense, it did. He didn't have to look for something he already had. And the proof was that the name of the power was…

"The Power of Tutoring. The symbol of the ability to teach any kinds of moves to pokémon, and to make use of them in different situations."

Her father's research had been about pokémon moves. He could teach Dive and Thunderbolt to a golbat. And she, his daughter, had the same ability. Could it be possible that the one who created that artefact was Dad's – and her – ancestor? Had the power been passed down from father to son, from mother to daughter through the centuries?

Although I could be wrong, she thought gloomily, but I can't turn back now.

Her pace slowed down as the path got even narrower. It hadn't been used for a long time, she noticed. But she knew she was very close now. The path turned left, and Opal closed her eyes. Her feet knew the way.

There was only one place where the power could be. It had to be somewhere Dad could keep it on sight, could protect it. And as she opened her eyes, that place was right before her.

"Home…"

The house was still in the same condition as it had been that night, when she had seen it last time. The city's officials had demanded that it needed to be demolished, that it was dangerous, and someone might get hurt. But the relatives that took Opal were rich people, and mostly because of her unspoken wishes, they made sure that the house remained intact.

And that's why it looked exactly the same. Everything was there: the partly-collapsed roof, the sorrowful, blackened walls with rafters sticking out, the windows that had exploded out of the heat… The only thing that had changed was the yard, as the weeds had taken over the once so neat garden that had been the apple of her mother's eye.

The sudden tidal wave of her declined memories got over her. The life she had had, the life she had lost. All those precious memories of the ones she had loved the most twirled in her mind. And suddenly she realized that they weren't painful anymore; they were sorrowful, but yet beautiful, and they gave her strength to go on.

"Mom, Dad… I know you're always with me", she whispered, smiling widely at the house. "No matter where I go."

Serenely, Opal walked towards the burned house. There was no need to open the front door, as it had collapsed with the most of the southern wall. She stepped in, sweeping a couple of charred boards aside. The massive carcass of the staircase leading to second floor seemed a little threatening in the dim, but she wasn't going up anyway.

"It has to be somewhere under the house…" she mused.

She already regretted that she hadn't asked Topaz to lend the itemfinder to her. There wasn't a basement; that would've been too easy. But the entrance had to be somewhere she or Mom wouldn't accidentally find it.

"Somewhere safe, where no-one else would look..."

Once she had been playing secretly in Dad's office, and when he had found out, he had been furious. It had been the only time she had ever seen him so angry; Mom had said it was because of the stress, and out of fright that Opal could have messed up his precious research papers. But what if it had instead been because he was afraid that she'd find something there? Opal shrugged. It was worth a try.

She had to push more charred objects out of her way, because the ceiling of the corridor leading to the inner rooms had partly fallen down. It would have been easier just to call out some of her pokémon to do it, but it somehow seemed more appropriate to do it on her own.

Panting and huffing, she finally got through and opened the somehow undamaged door to her father's former office.

Dull gray light of the cloudy sky came from the holes on the ceiling and made it possible to see inside the once so beautifully-furnished and cosy room. Opal sighed. Like the rest of the house, everything was destroyed, blackened and miserable.

The girl got to work. She had to check every inch of the floor and the walls, but it wasn't easy; the floor was full of litter and ashes, and the walls were so charred that it was impossible to distinguish anything that was out of place. She went around the whole room, knocking the walls and the floor, trying to find hollow spots.

It happened when she got past the massive bureau, which was still in one piece; the sound of the knocking was different. There was definitely something behind it.

With great effort, the girl moved the bureau aside. It seemed to have protected the wall behind it, as there was still a patch of the familiar, warm amber tapestry.

But more interestingly, there was also a small hole and a tiny carving next to it. It resembled a circle with a small heart inside it. Opal recognized it immediately as the Soul Badge symbol of the Fuchsia Gym.

Growing suddenly very nervous, she put her hand to the hole and pulled.

The wall opened with a loud screech. A draught of stuffy air tossed her hair back. She looked at the dark staircase that opened in front of her, and went in.

The staircase led her into a tunnel with stone walls and a rough, rocky floor that sloped a little downwards. Eventually she reached a small chamber at the end of the tunnel.

And there it was: the statue of a tall, melancholy-looking woman gazed down at the girl and was offering the shiny coin with her cold stone hands. Opal couldn't help noticing that the statue indeed resembled her father; the melancholy features reminded her about the days she had seen her him buried under work, and the pointy nose was just the same.

She stood there for a while, paying her respects to her unknown ancestor. Then she grabbed the power and headed back to the tunnel.

She had done it. She had found the sanctuary, and if Topaz was as fortunate, they could already have all of the powers. Opal clutched the round object in her fist as she made her way to the staircase. Everything was alright.

Opal reached the end of the stairs and was back at the burnt office. She stepped to the door. Her hand at the doorknob, she tossed the final glance at the room.

Suddenly her senses sharpened. She could hear footsteps at the other side of the door. They got closer and stopped abruptly, and the girl felt the knob turning under her hand. The door swung open, and Opal found herself face to face with a man.

A tall and rough-looking man with blond hair.

"Oh, there you are! I was waiting outside but you took your time, you know. I had to come in to check if you're done", Jasper said, with a wicked smirk crooking his features.

"You shouldn't have." The girl's voice was of pure ice. She backed a little, away from the man.

Jasper let out a loud laugh. "Well, someone's a bit cranky today. Come on, I'm an inpatient guy!" He noticed the coin in the girl's hand. "Ah, there it is! I knew you'd lead me to the power! We'd have never guessed it was here, of all places. Oh well, this is getting a bit old, but give it and the other powers to me, and I'll let you go."

The girl just put the coin into her pocket, where the green pouch containing the rest of them was. The man let out a frustrated grunt. "Listen, I'll burn this place again if you don't obey! That'd be kinda bad, as you're afraid of fire, huh?"

The girl looked baffled. "What?"

Jasper sighed. "Yeah, you heard right, kid. Jet wasn't too happy 'bout it, but…" He leaned closer. "It was me who burned this house."

"It was… you?"

"Yes, yours truly, me." The evil grin returned. "And I gotta say, it was one hell of a blaze!"

Opal couldn't say anything. The man took a pokéball into his hands. "And I'll be just happy to do it again, you know. Alright, you can scream now! Houndoom!"

He released the dark hellhound. It let out a low grumble at the sight of the girl. However, she didn't look as frightened as Jasper had hoped. With a calculating expression, she gazed the pokémon.

"What if", she said slowly, with a dangerous steely tone, a pokéball in her hands as well, "I told you that I'm not afraid anymore?"

The man's smirk faltered before the sight of a golden-white fox with nine, bushy tails appearing with the red light.

"A ninetales? Is that the little vulpix? Well, it's fire versus fire then…"

Both pokémon, the light and the dark, attacked. Opal stood back as the fire erupted from the creatures. Jasper shouted his commands.

"No, fire's not working! Use Bite!"

Ninetales swiped the attacking hellhound aside with its tails. The houndoom turned around and exposed its yellow teeth. It launched a pulsating ball of shadow towards the fox, who countered it with Barrier.

Opal gazed at the man. So that was the one responsible of her sorrowful past. That was the reason for her not being able to see her family ever again. Her body shook with anger.

"Ninetales, use Fire Blast!"

The burnt and gray surroundings glowed with warm, orange light as the fox attacked. The houndoom crashed into the wall, but immediately got up; it wasn't damaged severely by the fire.

"Forgot already?" Jasper called out. "Fire attacks are useless against Houndoom! Bite again!"

Opal stayed silent. Of course she knew that, but her intention was to get Jasper taste his own medicine. She had to end this with fire.

"Calm Mind!"

The fox stood still, ignoring the attacking hellhound, and closed its almond-shaped red eyes. It seemed to let out a pure white glow. The houndoom sunk its teeth into the golden-white fur.

"Way to go, Houndoom! Now – Shadow Ball!"

"Barrier again!"

The close-range barrier had an interesting effect: not just the attack, but also the hellhound shot away from the fox. That offered Opal the time she needed.

"And now, Sunny Day!"

The clouds behind the holes in the ceiling seemed to disperse. Soon the room was bathing in a clear sunlight.

"Fire Blast!"

The both creatures disappeared into the sea of fire again. Like the last time, however, the houndoom didn't take that much damage.

"Are you idiot or what? That won't help! Well, do what you want…" Jasper muttered. "But I'm getting bored, so let's end this. Houndoom, use Hyper Beam!"

There was nothing but a little distance between the two pokémon. The dark one opened its mouth, and Opal could see the energy forming inside. She had to act on just the right moment.

_Now_, she thought. "Ninetales, use Fire Blast again, straight into its mouth!"

The flare hit its target at the moment the Hyper Beam was ready. With a blinding light, the both attacks exploded between the houndoom's jaws. It collapsed to the floor defeated.

With a pure disbelief, Jasper stared at the sight. Opal called the fox on her side and began approaching the man with burning anger in her dark eyes.

"Are you happy now? Still wanna play?" she asked, her tone dangerously calm. As if to boost the effect of the words, Ninetales opened its mouth and let out a small flare.

"No… no!" Jasper stumbled backwards, to the corridor. The girl hemmed.

"Here you are, your life at my hands", she whispered. "It'd be only fair, to destroy you like you destroyed them…"

The man let out a small wail and backed up more. The girl followed him to the end of the corridor.

"Ninetales", she said, gazing mercilessly down at the man. She paused, looking hesitant. There was a slight spark of hope in the man's eyes.

"_Hypnosis._"

The fox's red eyes seemed to grow bigger, and at last they covered all of Jasper's vision. A strange, soothing sensation washed through him. A distant voice was calling him:

"_You don't know who you are, or where you come from. You'll start a new life somewhere far away. And now, sleep…_"

Opal looked at the sleeping man at her feet. No, he wasn't worth of becoming a murderer. She had done the right thing.

She stepped over the unmoving body, and the golden-white fox followed her outside, into the sunlight.


End file.
